Happier
by caro1414
Summary: What if he had never known? Now, four years later he has a chance, a chance to be happier, but what if it's too late? (RxL)
1. Chapter 1

Dislaimer: I do not own these characters.

A/N: I haven't written any fan fictions in a while, but since watching the revival I've had a few brewing in my mind. This story is ultimately Rogan, but it is also somewhat Literati friendly.

Chapter One:

"Sir, excuse me, your father asked me to give you a message?" Logan's secretary tentatively peaked into his office.

"Come on in." Logan looked up from his desk and smiled at his secretary. She had been with him since he was in London and had happily moved with him when they moved back to Huntzberger head offices in New York. "And what did Daddy Dearest have to say?"

"Well," Matilda Jones stumbled over her words, "he wanted to remind you that it is your fourth wedding anniversary this evening, and he wanted to be sure that you...well...that you remember to make reservations and see your wife this evening."

"Til," Logan gave her a wide grin, "thank you for passing it along, and I will ask my Dad to keep you out of personal messages. I have not forgotten my anniversary and I have a plan, don't worry."

"Alright sir, thank you." she smiled as she left the room.

Logan looked quickly at his phone and sent an e-mail from it to make a dinner reservation, then he glanced in his desk drawer where there was a stack of blue boxes all with appropriately priced pieces of jewelry he could give his wife on special occasions, or when he seriously pissed her off. He was sure today would be both. After receiving confirmation that his reservation had been made he began to dial the familiar number and waited for her to answer, "Babe, hi. Happy anniversary."

"Oh Logan, sweetheart, I'm so glad to hear from you." Odette Huntzberger's voice filled his ear, "Happy anniversary my love."

Logan couldn't help but think she was laying it on a bit thick, "So tonight I was hoping you would meet me at Le Bernardin, I'll send a car and meet you there?" he told her, "I have a reservation for 7?"

"Logan that sounds lovely, but I actually had a bit of a surprise for you." she told him, "Do you think we could just spend the night in? Be home for 6?"

Logan had to admit he was surprised, normally his wife liked to be seen, she liked for them to go out, get dressed up and be talked about by anyone and everyone. Odette loved being a socialite in New York City, and she traded in the city for the Hamptons come summer. "That sounds perfect, do you want me to bring anything home?"

"I've got it all taken care of darling, I'll see you around 6?"

"Bye for now." Logan agreed and then hung up the phone quickly. He glanced at his watch, noting that he had another three hours before he had to be back at his Park Avenue apartment.

They had moved to New York City shortly after they were married and Logan had taken a bigger role in the company, he was in charge of Global Acquisitions, a promotion from his previous role that left him in charge of European Acquisitions. He worked with much of the same team but just in a larger capacity, and he was being groomed to take over the company from his father within the next two years. Although years earlier, that task seemed like his worst nightmare, it was a responsibility that he was now at least somewhat excited for. He was moving the company towards more digital publications, he had even convinced his father to purchase a large television network which had hugely helped HPG financially. By all accounts, Logan was happy, or happier than he had once thought he would ever be. After he had said goodbye to Rory, it had been rough, he had missed her and pined for her and hoped she would call, or that he would run into her somewhere, but it never seemed to happen. Instead, he focused on his wife, and his work. He and Odette had been married at a huge wedding in the South of France, attended by people who he was sure he had never even met. They had no children, something that his parents reminded him of often, and Odette was involved in designing for a fashion house based out of Paris. It may not have been the life he had envisioned for himself when he had proposed to Rory all those years ago, but he was happy enough.

xxx

 ** _Philadelphia_**

"Rory, do you know where Charlotte's bag from daycare is?" Jess Mariano shouted down the hall. "She said she hid an apple in there!"

"I checked, no apple." Rory shouted back from the kitchen, "The bag is in the kitchen, with me." she continued.

Jess walked down the hall with the little girl hanging on his hip, "No apple?" he confirmed as they reached the kitchen.

"No apple." Rory repeated, "Thank you for picking her up." she smiled warmly as she took her daughter from his arms, "Happy birthday my sweet girl." Rory hugged her close.

"Mommy!" Charlotte squealed, "Today is **not** my birthday. I is three, no four."

Rory laughed and set her down on the kitchen floor, although Charlotte had spent the weeks leading up to her birthday excited for the occasion and would tell anyone who would listen that it was her special day, once the reality of turning four hit her, she was no longer interested. Rory had already gotten a call from her preschool explaining that Charlotte had cried when the kids in her class had sung to her that day at lunch. "Today is June 10," Rory told her, "And that my dear, makes it your birthday. So, what do you want for dinner?"

"I like Chinese." Charlotte grumbled as she began to play with her toy doll on the floor, still refusing to acknowledge her own birthday. She then turned her big blue eyes up to Jess and smiled at him, "Stay for dinner?"

"Kiddo, we talked about this in the car." Jess smiled, "I have to work tonight, that is why Mommy let me pick you up from school." he bent down to the same level as the little girl, "But I will be here for your party on Saturday. Grandma and Grandpa are coming, and your Great Grandma Emily, your Papa Chris and Aunt Gi." he explained, "So I will be here for that, alright?"

"Pwease?" Charlotte stuck her bottom lip out just enough to make it quiver.

"Charlotte." Rory spoke in a warning tone, she knew Jess had to work, he was publishing her second book, the one that she had written about motherhood, a follow up to her first book, _Gilmore Girls,_ rather than focusing on the relationship she had with her own mother, this book focused on learning how to be a mother. Rory had moved to Philly while she was pregnant, Jess was publishing the book, and it seemed like the grownup thing to do. She got a job as a teacher, and worked her way through various edits of her book. After two years she had bought herself a house in a respectable neighbourhood, on a quiet, corner lot with trees, it wasn't huge, but it had four bedrooms for when family came to visit and room for Charlotte to play outside. She often wished she could have stayed in Stars Hollow, but she knew that she was living under a microscope there, she wanted to make her own memories and traditions, she wanted to make her own life.

"You know what Char," Jess laughed, "I will stay for dinner, and I will do my extra work tomorrow." he told her, "Does that sound good?" she nodded immediately in response and without saying a word, Jess accepted the bottle of beer that Rory slid across the counter towards him. "You my love, are your mothers daughter."

xxxx

 ** _New York City_**

"O," Logan called as he entered his apartment, "I'm home. I have something for you." he was carrying a bouquet of flowers and the box he had selected from his desk drawer with a stunning pair of diamond earrings.

"The dining room, dear." Odette called, her voice bounced of the bare walls of the apartment, it had been decorated by the best designer in the city, but somehow Logan had always complained that it felt cold.

Logan glanced down at his watch, he was on time, it was only ten minutes after six, he hardly considered himself late. He walked into the dining room, white walls and a long black table, "These are for you." he set them down beside her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before taking a seat beside her. The table was set for two and the wine was already poured. "You ok?" Odette didn't speak, she was sitting at the head of the table, her hair pulled back into a harsh bun, she wore beige pants and a white blouse with gold accessories, she silently slid a legal sized envelope to him. "What is this?" Logan asked as he picked it up.

"I want a divorce." Odette told him simply. "We have no children, I own this apartment, and the place in Paris, you own the house in Connecticut and the place in the Hamptons, I don't want your money, I have my own. I'll keep my cars, you keep yours." Logan barely had a chance to come to terms with what she was saying before she came out with more, "We aren't happy Logan, I don't know that we ever have been. I cannot continue to be the reason that you don't have the life you want, and I would like to think that you want me to be happy."

"A divorce?" was all he could manage to say, she wanted a divorce. A simple one from the sounds of it, she just wanted her own life, and he would have his.

"I've booked you the Presidential Suite at the Mandarin Oriental for the next few days, and I will leave on a flight to Paris tomorrow morning, my lawyers will announce the divorce next week."

"So I don't get a say in this? We're just done?" Logan got his wits about him, "O, we both know this wasn't about being madly in love with each other, but we were good, we worked, we were...happy enough. So what changed? What is going on?"

"I've been seeing someone Logan." Odette admitted, it wasn't something she was proud of. He had thought they were done with cheating long ago, before they had gotten married, his last hurrah with Rory was supposed to have been her last hurrah as well. "I didn't particularly mean for it to happen, and I've realized that this is no way to live life. This is half a life, and not the half I want to live. We both deserve to be happy, not just happy enough."

"I'm assuming you had a bag of my things sent to the hotel?" Logan swallowed the lump in his throat. How could he not have known? Odette nodded in response to his question, "I will be going then." he gathered the box with the earrings and the envelope with the divorce papers.

"Logan, read them." Odette told him, "Once you get to your hotel, read them."

He nodded his head, and with that he was out the door.

xxx

"Til, it's Logan." Logan breathed into the phone as he stepped into the elevator at the hotel. "I'm going to work from home tomorrow. If it's anything important, patch them through to my cell, if it's not important, just leave it. I need...I need to work some things out." he explained as he rode in silence to his room with a carryon suitcase beside him.

"Is everything alright?"

"She wants a divorce." Logan almost laughed as he said the words, "She has been cheating on me, and she wants a divorce."

"Logan, I'm so sorry." Matilda told him honestly.

"It's alright Til, just don't tell anyone, and I will deal with my Dad. Can you also go into my drawer and return the jewelry? If you see a piece you like, feel free to keep it." he added before he ended the call. The bellhop would follow behind him with the rest of his luggage, but he had one bag on his own, it made it look to a bystander as though he might just be on business, not that he was a new resident of the hotel. He had texted Colin and Finn on his way over to the hotel, they had both been shocked, if anything they had expected Odette to say she wanted half of his earnings, half of his past earnings, half of his future earnings, and the house in the Hamptons, but she hadn't asked for anything. They all agreed that she must be screwing someone who was great in bed to be willing to give it all up.

Logan graciously tipped the bellhop before pouring himself a drink and taking a seat on the couch and opening the package that she had given to him. He began to read through the paperwork, it was all as she had said. He would keep his property, she would keep hers, she didn't ask for any money, even what she was entitled to in the prenup. The package included a copy of the statement that her lawyers would release explaining their decision to dissolve their marriage with love and respect for each other, as well as the list of papers (all Huntzberger publications, of course) that would first print the statement and the entertainment shows that would get the first copy of the announcement. She would wait several months before coming out with her relationship, and he was free to do what he pleased. Logan was surprised, he hadn't expected that she would do this, but he also hadn't expected her to be so willing to give everything up without a fight. He reached the last page of the package and saw a familiar name, and what he read would change everything.

 _Sunday June 11, 2017_

 _To: Logan Huntzberger HPG Group_

 _From: Rory Gilmore_

 _Subject: Please don't delete_

 _Logan,_

 _I know it has been a long time since we've spoken, and I haven't heard anything about you as of late, so I hope that all is well. I know you will be furious with me when you read this, and I understand why. I had hoped to do this differently, but unfortunately things don't always go as planned, which is funny, considering I'm the planner, I make pro-con lists for my big decisions, but somehow my lists didn't tell me what to do this time. Yesterday, on Saturday June 10 at 4:32 in the morning you and I became parents to a beautiful little girl. She has my eyes, although I know that can change after birth, but something tells me they won't. I think I'd like to name her Charlotte. Charlotte Emily Gilmore, or maybe Gilmore-Huntzberger. I know that I should have told you sooner, I know that you would've been there had you known, but I screwed up, and I'm sorry. Please call me, my number hasn't changed, I am in Philly at Temple University Hospital and will probably be here until Tuesday. You're on the list of allowed visitors. Hopefully I will see you soon._

 _Ace, x_

As soon as Logan read through the e-mail, he knew, he knew why she was being so civil and cordial. She had known, obviously she had known, this e-mail was addressed to him, but somehow he had never seen it, and she had a copy. On June 11, when the e-mail had been sent, they were either on their honeymoon or on a plane getting ready to leave for Fiji. He could remember Odette using his phone to look something up because hers was in her purse which had mistakenly been packed in her suitcase. She must have received the e-mail and deleted it, or somehow kept him from seeing it. They both know the truth, had he known about this e-mail, about existence of a child that was his, he never would have stayed with her. He would have left four years ago. And now, here he was and the reality set in - he had a four year old daughter, a daughter who thought he knew about her and had just chosen to walk away.


	2. Chapter 2

a/n - thank you for the reviews, I'll be honest, reviews make me anxious because I want everyone to like it. :) I want to touch on a couple of things, first, Rory and Lorelai's relationship - they are still close, but certainly not as close as they were when Rory was younger, and I think that is normal as people grow and change. In Rory's case, she had to leave Stars Hollow in order to be her own person. Also, most of the inspiration for Charlotte's personality is a combination of my nieces/nephews and my daughter.

 **Chapter Two**

"I need to speak to Lorelai Gilmore." Logan tried to remain calm as he spoke into the phone.

"I am sorry, Lorelai is not here at zee moment." the French voice responded. "I will not take a message."

"Look, you don't understand, I need to talk to her. Can I have her cellphone number? Can you tell me where she is?"

"Do I sound like a telephone directory? Because I most certainly am not."

"This is Logan Huntzberger and I need to speak to Lorelai or Rory Gilmore, can you please tell me where I can find them?"

And just like that, the line was dead and Logan assumed that calling back would get him the same response, maybe he should have said he was someone else. Logan was in his car, he was on the freeway and he was driving. He wasn't sure where he should go, if he should go to Hartford or Stars Hollow, or if she was still in Philly, she didn't have any ties to Philly that he knew of, so he had no idea where to start. "Call Finn." Logan spoke into his bluetooth and waited for the phone to dial.

"Logan, mate, we're at the hotel, they've let us in, but uh...you seem to have misinformed us, as you are not here. Are we meeting elsewhere? Perhaps a less than reputable Gentleman's Club?" the Australian chuckled.

"Finn I need you to find out where Rory lives. Now!" Logan barked into the phone.

"Rory? Like Reporter Girl Rory? Broke-your-heart-Colin-bought-a-bed-and-breakfast Rory?"

"Yes, that Rory." Logan told him frantically. "I can't explain, just find it, and once you've found her, call me, and once you've told me, book a flight and get yourselves there, and get us a few hotel rooms somewhere decent."

"Will do, mate." Finn responded simply, not needing to know any more before making his decision to help his friend. "Is everything alright?" he asked warily.

"She had a baby Finn, four years ago, Rory had my baby and Odette knew. She never told me until tonight when she also informed me that she wanted a divorce. I need to find her, and I need to make her believe that I didn't know."

"We'll sort it out Huntz, we'll be there soon."

Once he hung up the phone, Logan turned up the music as loud as he could handle and drove, he drove towards Connecticut and figured that once he knew where Rory was, he would go to her, but in the meantime, maybe his sister could help him make some sense of all this. It was nearly 9:30 when Logan received a call from Finn, he was almost in Hartford, only to be told that Rory Gilmore was living in Philadelphia in a quiet suburb. She was a school teacher who had published a book and was writing her second while she cared for her young daughter. There wasn't much information about her personal life, but before Logan could ask, Finn had explained that Colin's family jet was in Hartford, they were on their way via helicopter and the three of them would take the short flight to Philly together. Logan didn't always appreciate his friends as much as he should, but in this moment, he couldn't have been more thankful for them.

xxx

The flight was barely an hour from tarmac to tarmac, it was just after 11:30 when they landed, and Logan didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to drive over right away, he didn't want to spend another minute with them thinking that he had chosen something else, or someone else over his own child, or the love of his life, but he also knew that barging in at midnight wasn't fair to Rory, and it certainly wasn't fair to her daughter. It was a Thursday night, Rory would be working the next morning and presumably their little girl would have daycare.

"Let's get to the hotel, Logan." Colin interrupted his thoughts, "You can't fix this tonight."

"He's right mate," Finn agreed as they walked to the waiting limousine, "we do need to call your Dad though, because this...agreement," he looked towards the envelope that Logan was holding, "it just won't do."

"What do you want me to do?" Logan exhaled, the last thing he wanted to do was call his father, and the last thing he had ever expected was for Finn to be remotely sensible about the situation.

"You need to file for an annulment on the grounds of fraud. It will be a bit of a tough sell, and we'll have to get a PI to do some digging, if I had to guess there is more to find out here. I'm sure Odette will agree after you have it all set out for her. She needs to issue a public apology, admit to her part in this, otherwise...you'll just look like a shmuck who cheated and she will look like the victim who finally had enough. For now, just tell her your lawyers are reviewing everything and not to release any statements."

"I don't want a big scene." Logan sighed, "I just want her to tell Rory that I didn't know. I can deal with the fallout from the rest. I don't care what the rest of the world thinks about the divorce." he continued before he looked directly at Colin, "And I have to call my Dad." Logan acknowledged.

"You need to call your Dad." Colin agreed.

The men rode to the hotel in silence, they were staying at The Logan in three separate rooms. Logan had called his Dad on the drive over and told him he needed to get to Philly as soon as possible. The news of his divorce, and his child, and everything else was something that could effect business and so Logan knew that he needed his Dad to know what was going on. Upon reaching their rooms they all assured each other that they would meet up first thing in the morning, and Colin promised Logan he would keep tabs on Finn. And so he sat, in his hotel room drinking glasses of water. He wanted to drink scotch, he _needed_ to drink scotch. He had about half a dozen missed calls from Odette, and he was waiting for his Dad. It was a weird thing, here he was, after all the years of wanting Mitchum as far away as possible that he needed to talk to his Dad.

A knock on his door interrupted him, it was just after two in the morning and he still hadn't slept, hell, he still hadn't taken off the suit he had worn to work that day. He walked slowly towards the door before he opened it, "Dad," he nodded as the older man walked in, "I have to tell you something."

"Odette wants a divorce." Mitchum stated simply as he walked into the room and took a seat, receiving a bit of a stunned look from Logan in response, "She faxed a copy of the paperwork over around 9." Mitchum explained, "I hope she had enough decency to tell you first?"

Logan nodded to affirm that he had in fact known first, "Did you see the last page?" Logan asked, he received a nod in response, "I can't believe I have to ask this," he took a deep breath, "did you know?"

Mitchum shook his head and Logan sat down beside him, "I am a lot of things, son, but I wouldn't keep you from your child, and I would have taken care of your child and Miss Gilmore. This...this is all a shock to me and it will be to your Mother as well." he admitted, "I've not told anyone, but I've spoken to the lawyers, what do you want to do? I've got Mica, my PI looking into her, seeing how long this affair is has been going on and seeing if we can use that to help us. Did you know that she had been seeing someone?"

It was Logan's turn to shake his head, "She told me that we both quit our vices before we got married, about nine months before in fact. She knew about Rory, and as long as I was discrete, she was alright with it, but she had never said she was seeing anyone after Rory and I broke it off. In fact she explicitly told me that she wasn't seeing anyone anymore." Logan explained, "I just want her to fix the mess with Rory, I want her to know that I didn't know about any of this until a few hours ago."

"You need to rest, son, you have a big day ahead of you. I assume you are planning to go and see Miss Gilmore?" Mitchum put a hand on Logan's shoulder, Logan nodded in response, "We will get what you want out of this, I promise."

"I hope to, but if I were her...I wouldn't want to see me."

"You need to tell her the truth. Normally the truth isn't something I encourage, you know that, but show her all of this, show her you didn't know. You can fix this Logan. I've never been a great Dad to you, but I certainly hope you can do better than I did."

xxx

Rory felt off. She had since the evening prior, maybe it was the Chinese food, something about it hadn't sat well with her. Jess had spent the night, something that normally happened at the request of her precocious but adorable daughter, and normally they would end up in bed together. Rory didn't do boyfriends anymore, she didn't meet guys for one night stands, but when she had an itch to scratch, Jess was always more than willing to take care of it, so long as he was unattached. She had told him after that she didn't feel well and he assured her that he would take Charlotte to school and that she could take a sick day so that she would be up and running for the party on the weekend. It was now nearly noon, and Jess would be returning Charlotte from her half day of pre-school on Friday instead of taking her to his work where she would pretend to read books and colour for a few hours most Fridays.

The knock on the door startled her from her coffee and she glanced at her watch, _11:15,_ she exhaled and walked to the door, nowhere near prepared to see what was on the other side of it. He immediately reached forward and grabbed her mug, knowing that she would have dropped it otherwise. "May I come in?" he asked quietly, he wasn't his usual smug self, he was vulnerable, a side of Logan Huntzberger that was rarely seen. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a polo shirt, he looked remarkably casual, and he looked exhausted. She nodded without saying a word and she led him to the kitchen, he put her coffee on the counter and she silently poured him a cup and then just stared at him, waiting for him to speak. "I'm getting a divorce." he told her, "Or maybe an annulment," he continued, "I'm not really sure." he took the paperwork that Odette had given him the night before and handed it to her, "Just read it, before you get mad and yell, just...just look at it."

Rory couldn't even think of a word to say, seeing Logan on the other side of her door was something she had stopped hoping for long ago, and now he was here, apparently getting a divorce, and there was something she needed to know. As he stood silently in her kitchen she read through the papers. Divorce papers. They had been drawn up by Odette Huntzberger, according to the date a few weeks prior, the settlement by all accounts seemed fair, although Rory had to admit she was shocked by the assets that the two of them shared. Rory had always known that Logan was beyond rich, but she had never seen the numbers. It was the last page though that caught her attention, it was a copy of an e-mail she had sent four years earlier. She could see that it had been forwarded on to another e-mail, she assumed Odette's, and that is where it had been printed from. It was the e-mail where she as much as asked him to come to her, and she waited at the hospital hoping he would come, when he didn't, it nearly broke her heart. "You're saying," Rory began fumbling for words, regretting having not gone to work that morning so she wouldn't have been there for this run in, "you didn't see this e-mail? You didn't ignore us? You didn't spend four years knowing you had a child and just chose not to be a part of her life? You are Gavin here? You didn't know?"

"I'm Gavin." Logan nodded, "Although, Odette certainly isn't Gwen. Everything I can put together tells me that she forwarded the e-mail to herself and deleted it from my phone. We were leaving for our honeymoon that day, she had accidentally packed her cellphone and she used mine. The e-mail must have come in while she had it. I never knew."

"You never wondered about me? You never asked around town? Surely your Father knew? Your Mom?"

"Rory I swear to you, none of us knew." Logan tried to remain as calm as possible, he wanted to scream, he wanted to tell her that he wouldn't have gotten married if she had told him earlier, and that had he gotten that e-mail he would have run to her as fast as he could. "Ace," he used her old nickname, "please tell me you believe me."

"I don't know." Rory admitted, "But I need time, to digest all of this. I would imagine that you do too."

"I've been digesting since last night. I don't know what else to digest. I mean, obviously you're sure that she is mine. So I don't have any questions about paternity. Can you...can you tell me about her?"

"She's amazing. Charlotte Emily Gilmore." Rory's face lit up as she spoke about her, "She has your hair, it's blonde and adorable," she passed Logan her phone to see some photos of the little girl, "she loves books, I mean, not at the level I do, but she likes to read to herself and to me. She tends to just describe what is happening in the photos. You...," Rory sighed as she spoke, she knew that this was going to hurt him, but he had to know, if she didn't tell him now, he would find out soon, "you should know that Jess is a really big part of her life. He has gone to her Father-Daughter picnics at school and daycare, he comes over throughout the week, he's a huge help to me. We are...we aren't together, but we..."

"Does she know about me?" Logan interrupted her, he wanted to know more, he needed to know more about Charlotte, and he knew he didn't want to hear anything about Rory's sex life with anyone, much less a guy he never liked who evidently played Daddy to his daughter.

"She does, she has seen photos, you've been mentioned." Rory told him, "I don't know if she would know you to see you, but she knows of you. She'll be home soon, Jess is picking her up."

"I guess I should go." Logan hadn't known what to expect, and he supposed this was about as good as he should have expected, he didn't know what came next. "I'm at The Logan, so if you want to talk or anything while I'm here, just stop by, or give me a call." he handed her a business card.

Rory nodded as she took the card and put it on the side of her fridge, "My family is in town this weekend, to celebrate Charlotte's birthday. So I will be pretty busy. How long are you in town?"

"I'll stay the weekend, but you say the word and I will be back in town in a couple of hours."

"I guess you're pretty close to running the show now, aren't you?" Rory gave him a smile, she was proud of him, she had always been proud of him. He had grown up, he wasn't the frat boy he was in college, she had seen who he was when they were seeing each other before, he was driven and successful, and it suited him.

"The dynastic plan." Logan shrugged as they both moved towards the door.

"The dynastic plan." she repeated softly.

xxx

"Mommy? Mom? MAMA!" Charlotte squealed as she ran into the house, Jess a few steps behind her.

"Yes baby girl." Rory smiled and embraced the little girl.

"I'm FOUR!" Charlotte grinned.

"Yes you are sweetheart." Rory laughed, "And you are going to have a party tomorrow, and it is going to be so much fun. Do you still want an Alice in Wonderland Party?" Rory hoped that the answer hadn't changed and was thrilled to see a nod in response, "And a rainbow cake?" Charlotte nodded again, "Alright sweetheart, why don't we go make some lunch for Jess before he goes back to work?"

"Lunch for me?" Jess grinned.

"You know I make a mean bowl of macaroni." Rory winked, "And I have it on good authority that Charlotte _loves_ macaroni.'

"I DO LOVE MACARONI! I DO! I DO!" Charlotte jumped up and down in front of her mother.

"So what do you say?"

"I could never turn down free macaroni. I guess you're feeling better?" Jess asked as Rory moved to grab a pot and put the water on to boil.

"I am." she nodded, pulling a cup and milk out for Charlotte who was climbing into a chair to wait for her lunch. "I guess some rest helped." she smiled, she wasn't sure how, or when to tell him about Logan, and she knew that he would be upset, not only for the fact that he would worry about losing the relationship he had with Charlotte, but he would also worry about what it would mean for Rory. "Thank you again for picking her up."

"Always." Jess took a bottle of water from the fridge. "So Miss Charlotte, what do you want for a birthday gift?"

"Dah!" Charlotte laughed, "Why you no get it already?"

Rory smiled at the exchange, _Dah_ , the name that Charlotte had given Jess when she was just over a year old. Rory never stopped it, it was a term of endearment and over the course of the last year or so, Charlotte had become aware of the fact that she didn't have a Dad the way that her friends and classmates did, so Rory was not prepared to try to take that away from her.

"Because I've been busy taking care of you!" Jess laughed as Rory gave them each a bowl of pasta. "Thanks."

"Be careful honey, it's hot." she warned her daughter. "Grandma and Grandpa will be here soon! I was thinking that the four of us could go to the park and play?"

"Just with Gramma Gampa!" Charlotte countered.

"You don't want Mommy to come?" Rory had to admit she was a bit disappointed - with the party prep, and the nearing end of the school year, she hadn't spent as much time this week with Charlotte as she normally would, and so to hear that her daughter didn't actually _want_ to spend the time with her was a tough pill to swallow.

"Fiiiiine, Mommy come too, but Gramma take me to DonaldsMc." Charlotte countered.

Jess and Rory both laughed, for some reason, although Charlotte could say both 'Mc' and 'Donalds', she couldn't put them together in the correct order for the life of her, "I think Grandma would love that, Grandpa...maybe not so much, but that is a deal."

Jess looked down at his watch while Charlotte focused on the task of eating each of her noodles one by one, "I should get going." he stood up and rinsed his bowl in the sink, placing it in the dishwasher before he gave Charlotte a kiss on the head, "I love you, kiddo."

"Bye, Dah." Charlotte smiled at him.

"I'm going to walk Jess out, you sit tight, alright?" Rory looked at Charlotte before following Jess to the door once her daughter had mumbled an acknowledgment. "So I will see you tomorrow?" Rory asked him.

"What time should I be here?" Jess asked.

"Party starts at 2, so anytime is fine." Rory told him, "Thank you for your help today. I'm feeling much better." Rory felt guilty for not telling him the truth about Logan, she knew that her motives were pure, but she couldn't help but feel bad.

"You don't need me to swing by later tonight after she's in bed?"

Rory felt a blush creeping to her face, "My parents will be here, my Grandma, Luke..." she laughed, "That seems like a bad idea." she added as she leaned up and kissed him gently, "Have a good afternoon at work."

"Try to get some writing done if you can. The guys are excited about what they've read so far." Jess winked as he walked to his car.

xxx

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA. Your Mom said that I would take YOU to DonaldsMc?" Lorelai dramatically put her hands on her chest as Charlotte hopped off the swing and ran to her Grandmother.

"Mhm." Charlotte nodded triumphantly, "And Grampa."

"Well sweets, I'll be honest with you...Grandma doesn't like DonaldsMc."

"YOU DO TOO GRAMMA!" Charlotte shouted as she began to giggle uncontrollably. "You eat chicken nuggets ALL the time and no tell Grampa!"

"Me?!" Lorelai laughed, "Never! But of course we will take you to DonaldsMc for a special date." Lorelai hugged her close, "Maybe we can even get some ice cream?"

"I'm getting a cavity just thinking about this!" Luke exclaimed as he walked over from the swing, he had been pushing Charlotte until she simply needed to get off and tell Lorelai of their impending plans.

"No cavity Grampa, pwomise!" Charlotte opened her mouth to show Luke her cavity-free mouth.

"Well that is a relief, and a shock given the eating habits of your Mom and Grandma." he winked at the little girl.

Rory smiled at the exchange and then took a quick glance at her watch, "It's nearly five." she told them, they had arrived at her house around 2 and Charlotte had immediately helped them unpack for the weekend and then demanded that they all head to the park. "So if you're going to get McDonalds _and_ be ready for Great Grandma Emily when she arrives, then you had better get going."

"Wha'bout Papa?" Charlotte asked, referring to Christopher.

"Papa will be here first thing in the morning." Rory smiled, "He is bringing Aunt Gi."

"We take Mommy car." Charlotte told Luke and Lorelai, "It has a carseat for me."

"What is Mommy going to do?" Lorelai looked to her daughter, assuming that she had some errands to run before the party.

"I have to go and meet up with some people from work, pick up some things I missed by not being there today." she lied, "I shouldn't be too long though. Is it alright if I take Luke's truck?"

"Sure." Luke shrugged, he had replaced his old truck a few years earlier with a Dodge Ram, "I'll just need to grab a couple things from it?"

Rory nodded as she handed her Mom the keys to her VW Jetta, "Thank you for taking her."

"Everything alright, kid?" Lorelai asked, sensing that her daughter was just a little bit off kilter.

"Everything is fine Mom." Rory smiled warmly and then leaned down to her daughter, "You be good for Grandma and Grandpa? Mommy will be home soon, and then when you wake up tomorrow, it will be time for your party."

"Is Abby coming?" Charlotte referred to one of her friends from preschool.

"All of the kids in your class are coming." Rory assured her, "And Abby's Mom told me how excited Abby is for the party."

"I love you."

"I love you too babe." Rory kissed her forehead, "I'll see you soon." Rory smiled again at her own mother before walking to Luke's truck and taking the keys from him. As she sat in the front seat under the guise of getting an address for the GPS, she quickly took out her cellphone and the business card Logan had given her earlier and put his number in to send a text message.

 _The Logan has a rooftop bar, meet me there in twenty. PS- Who stays at a hotel with the same name as them? There's a song about that isn't there? You're so vain, I bet you think this hotel is about you, don't you, don't you... ;)_

Rory added the smiley face to add a bit of levity to what she knew was already an incredibly awkward situation. She was only a few minutes away from the hotel, but she wanted to arrive first so that she could order herself a drink before he got there. At a stop light she quickly glanced at his response.

 _I didn't know if you would remember where to find me if I didn't stay somewhere glaringly obvious. Text me once you're situated and I'll come up._

Rory laughed, as much as she hated to admit it, they fell back into their carefree banter pretty easily. Unfortunately though, she knew that they would have to deal with the reality of their situation. Rory had assumed for all these years that Logan knew about Charlotte and had chosen not to be a part of her life, so she had made the decision to carry on without him. She didn't long for him, or miss him, she had come to the conclusion that not knowing their daughter was simply Logan's loss. She had tucked him away in a back corner of her mind, in a tiny box where he needed to stay. He was small to her. She had never considered that he hadn't been absent by choice, and so here she was, forced to take him out of that little box in the back of her mind and she needed to see who he could be to Charlotte.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N - I still do not own anything, thank you all for your kind reviews and encouragement! Charlotte and Logan meet in the next chapter and then we will see their relationship grow :)

 **Chapter Three:**

"Gin and tonic please?" Rory smiled to the waitress as she took a seat at the bar located on top of The Logan. "Oh, and here." she handed the server her credit card, "Please just keep my tab open, put my drinks on this credit card, and no matter what anyone else says, charge me for them."

"Of course." the waitress smiled and walked away with the credit card.

Rory knew that Logan would try to pay for her drinks, she wanted him to know that she was doing fine. She didn't need him to pay for her drinks, she was doing fine on her own.

 _Ready when you are._

Rory typed out the message when her drink arrived and her credit card was returned, she took a long sip of the drink and then noticed him arriving out of the corner of her eye. She stood to greet him, secretly wishing she had chosen a different outfit. She was wearing dark jeans and a t-shirt. She certainly didn't look bad, but she also didn't look her best, which is typically what a person wants when they are meeting up with their ex-boyfriend-almost-fiance-lover-baby-daddy. "Thank you for meeting me." she gave him an awkward hug.

"I'm glad you texted me." he smiled. "Where is Charlotte?"

"She is with my Mom and Luke at McDonalds. Or DonaldsMc as she likes to call it." Rory smiled. "I thought we probably had a bit more we needed to discuss."

"Glad to see that Ivy League education has paid off." Logan laughed as they sat down and he quickly requested a scotch. "I don't even know where to begin. Why didn't you tell me when you were pregnant? Did you not think I would put her first? I mean, Rory, all the shit with us aside, I would have been there for my kid. You know that I wouldn't have married Odette. I mean, I don't know what would've happened between you and I, but I think I deserved the chance to be her Dad."

"I was..." Rory sighed, thinking back to when she and Logan had ended things, "I didn't want to tear your life apart, I didn't want to drop a bomb and be _that_ woman. I was proud, way too proud. When I was pregnant, I figured I could just avoid Hartford. No one you knew would be in Stars Hollow, and then when I moved here, I just figured I could decide later. So then I was like seven months pregnant and Charlotte was kicking up a storm one night, and I was sitting in this little two bedroom apartment that my Dad was paying for, and I thought to myself what a great Dad you would be." Rory paused to take a sip of her drink, "So I was going to call. I had a speech in my head of things that I would say, how I would explain myself, beg you to forgive me. And in my head, you always forgave me, because you are you, and I am me. But then I thought about how your life would just be blown up. Because I swept in and blew it up. I didn't want to be that person. I had done it with Dean, I had ruined his marriage, and sure he was an equal participant and we were both young and stupid, but I didn't want to be that woman again. So I decided that what I was doing was best, and trust me Logan, I knew it was wrong."

"It wasn't your choice to make, Ace." Logan told her simply. He wanted to be furious, he wanted to yell, but he knew that in her mind she was making a decision that was right. "Didn't you think I could do it? You were always my biggest cheerleader."

"You always wanted me to wear a cheerleading outfit." Rory tried to joke, Logan barely cracked a smile. "I knew you would make a great Father, Logan. I knew it then, and I know it now." she admitted, "So when I went into labour, two weeks early on June 9, 2017, and I met our baby girl on June 10, I looked at her and I thought to myself how amazing she was. And this girl, oh my god, she was beautiful. I wondered how they would ever let me leave the hospital without completing an aptitude test, or maybe running some sort of CSI level blood work to confirm the levels of caffeine in my system. And in those moments I realized that I couldn't take this away from you, so I sent you that e-mail. I knew I would need to apologize in person, but I figured at least this way, you knew, you were making a choice. I had no way to know that your wife would've hidden it from you."

Logan couldn't argue with that last part, only a monster would keep a Father from their child. "And you just never called? There was no follow up?"

"It wasn't a job interview Logan, it was my life, and I didn't want to force you to be a part of our lives if you weren't interested. As far as I was concerned, you chose to ignore us."

"But you know me Ace, you know me better than that. And four years ago, you knew I loved you."

"Logan I'm sorry. Really that is all I can say. I can apologize and I will keep apologizing because unfortunately that is the kind of person I am. I should probably be Canadian based solely on the frequency at which the words 'I'm sorry' come out of my mouth. But I cannot change it, what is done is done. So now I suppose we are here to figure out how to move forward. The fact of the matter is, I live here. My life is here, my job is here, my house, Jess is here, and you are in New York."

Logan listened to her, he waited for her to finish, he was fairly certain she hadn't taken a breath through her mini rant. "Jess isn't a factor here Rory. Everything else, I can get behind, but we will work something out, but Jess is not a factor in the relationship that I get to have with my daughter. She is not his daughter, as much as I am sure that kills him, she is my daughter and I didn't know about her until yesterday, but I know about her now, and I have a right to get to know her."

"Jesus Logan. Listen to yourself." Rory took another short sip of her drink, "This isn't a pissing match between you and Jess. Get your priorities in check. He is a factor. Do you know why he is a factor? Because he loves her, and he picks her up from preschool and takes her to his work. He is her Dah, and she loves him. So yes, you are her Father and I want you to know her, but it is going to take time, and I think you need to come to terms with that. You aren't going to come blasting in and uprooting her life, we are going to have to figure out the best way for her to go through this, and that will probably involve a psychiatrist of some sort because lets be honest, this entire situation is fucked."

Logan could see that he had upset Rory, her cheeks were flushed and she was talking faster than he thought he had ever heard her talk before. He hated that it bothered him so much that Jess had been a Dad to Charlotte when he didn't even know about her, but the reality was, he only had one person to blame for that situation, and it wasn't Rory. "I'm sorry." he mumbled under his breath, "Do you think...I know it's fast and this is all a shock, but do you think I can meet her?"

"Logan my entire family is in town for her birthday, do you really think that is wise?" Rory sighed, "They have...ideas, and preconceptions about everything that has gone on." she continued to explain, "I hardly think anyone would be _thrilled_ to see you after all these years. I'll need time, time to explain what has happened and to come up with a plan so that we can all start to get to know each other again."

Logan nodded, he understood her thoughts on the subject and although he wanted to dive right in, it was much more complicated than that. "What if I come back next Friday?" Logan suggested. "You can dot some I's and cross some T's, maybe you can send me some photos and videos of her, I can get some of my stuff sorted out. Maybe I can get a place to stay in Philly."

"Do not buy a house here." Rory told him seriously, "We need to take this slow, and real estate holdings are basically the opposite of slow. You come back next weekend, and we will start to sort all of this out." she agreed.

"In the meantime, I have some...divorce proceedings to deal with." Logan sighed, he still couldn't believe that she had done this, that she had been so vindictive. Logan and Odette were never in love, but at the very least, Logan thought they had a mutual understanding. When Rory and Logan were involved in their 'Vegas' agreement, Odette had been involved with an old boyfriend who her family had decided was not good enough to marry, all parties involved were discrete, and Logan knew that Odette had strong feelings for the man, and Odette knew that Logan loved Rory. When they had both broken it off with their respective lovers, Logan and Odette had agreed to monogamy, if they were going to be married, there wasn't going to be anyone else involved. They both found each other attractive, they met each others needs intellectually and physically, there was no longer room in their relationship for others, even if they weren't in love.

"I'll call you." Rory stood up, Logan following suit immediately after. "Say hi to the boys for me, I assume they're here."

Logan nodded, he leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "See you next week, Ace."

xxx

"Mom, can you bring out the cake?" Rory called into the house from the backyard. There was a bouncy castle and little mini tables with tea sets all around. It wasn't exactly a Pinterest-worthy Alice in Wonderland, but Charlotte loved it as she played with her friends. "Come on guys," she shouted for everyone to gather around her little girl as Lorelai came out with the cake that Sookie had made and everyone began to sing. Rory smiled as she watched Charlotte's face light up and she blew out the four candles that were lit. "Did you make a wish?" Rory asked as she gave her a little squeeze.

"Mhmmmmmm." Charlotte grinned, "Can't tell you."

Rory laughed as Lorelai took the cake away and began to cut it, "Everyone go find a seat and we'll bring you some cake. Charlotte, why don't you go sit with your friends."

"She's having fun." Jess smiled once the cake had been passed out and the kids were eating.

"I cannot believe that girl is four." Rory leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't thank you enough. For everything you do for us, and everything you've done for us over the years. I couldn't have done it without you."

"C'mon, give yourself some credit Ror. You are a great Mom, and I'm just lucky to be along for the ride."

"I need to talk to you after the party, once Charlotte has gone to sleep. I...we need to have a family meeting." Rory gave him a pained smile, she needed to tell them all what was going on, that things were going to change.

"Are you alright? Is it Charlotte?" Jess could feel the panic rising in his chest.

"Everything is fine, everyone is fine." Rory assured him, "Let's go get some cake."

xxx

Logan stuck around most of Saturday. He had considered just showing up at the house, announcing his presence and forcing Rory to deal with the consequences. As much as he wanted to, he knew that wasn't fair to anyone involved, and he knew it wouldn't help to bring the Gilmore's onboard with him being a part of their lives from now on. He knew that Odette was in Paris, and he decided that he would need to go and talk to her in person, he needed to know why she had done this, he thought she owed him at least that. She had continued to try to call on Friday and Saturday and he hadn't answered. He needed to see her, he needed to face her and get to the bottom of all of it. Mitchum had left Philadelphia on Friday afternoon, assuring his son that he would let him know if his PI dug up any dirt, shockingly he also expressed an interest in meeting his Granddaughter. Colin and Finn would fly home when Logan got on his flight to Paris, he couldn't get a direct flight on such short notice, so he had a quick stopover in London first.

"Are you going to be nice to her?" Colin asked, he had to admit, he would've been uncontrollable if he were in the same situation.

"I need some answers." Logan shrugged, "I mean, I'm assuming that she is where I think she is, so I'm going to get more answers with sugar than vinegar."

"How was Rory?"

"She was alright." Logan shrugged, "She's cautious, as you can expect. She says hello. Did my Dad say anything more about the PI?"

"Not when I spoke with him last. He said he would only deal with my Dad and I at the firm, he doesn't want this getting out, which I understand. Mica is looking into any relationships Odette had, and the lengths she went to in order to hide this from you."

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but do you really think she was being malicious? Or did she just make a horrible mistake and it took her a long time to admit it and fix it?" Logan sighed as he packed the remaining items in his carryon.

"Does it matter?" Colin countered, he now had two year old twins of his own, "You have a kid Logan, a kid who someone else has been helping Rory raise. If Steph hid a kid from me, I wouldn't care what her reasons were. Cooper and Riley are the most important thing in my life, and I know that you have this sense of love, the idea that you love Charlotte, but until you get to know her, you won't truly understand that love. It is more than you can ever imagine, and once you know her, you will hate Odette more for choosing to keep her from you."

Logan nodded, he felt like he was on a rollercoaster. One minute he felt rage towards Odette, the next he thought maybe it was just a horrible mistake that she didn't know how to fix. He supposed it could've been worse, he could have never found out, or missed out on more of her life. He couldn't change what had happened, but he agreed with his Father and Colin - he needed Odette to admit that she had kept this from him, he didn't need a skywriter or a public statement, he wanted it to be tucked away in their divorce proceedings so it could be found if someone wanted to look, and more importantly, he needed her to tell Rory the truth.

Finn's phone buzzed and he looked at Logan, "Our Uber is here, so we should go. You've got to go and figure out what the hell is wrong with your wife, Colin has to go and see his wife and kids, and I need a clean pair of underwear."

Colin and Logan exchanged concerned looks but both chose not to say anything more, "Thank you both for coming."

xxx

"Is she asleep?" Lorelai asked as Rory walked into the family room.

"She is." Rory nodded and took a seat beside her younger sister, "Thank you all for sticking around, I know you all have things to do."

"Rory, what on earth is going on, and why are we all sitting in this room? It is much too small for this many people. For goodness sakes, Jess is sitting on the floor."

"I'm fine, Emily." Jess leaned back on the palms of his hands.

"I don't care if you're fine, it is not appropriate to have your guests sit on the floor Rory." Emily ranted.

"Grandma, please. I just need to talk to everyone." Rory sighed, she had considered having individual conversations, but she wasn't sure she could handle all of the same questions being repeated over, and over again.

"Well spit it out then, this is ludicrous, and this couch is neither comfortable, or attractive, so I really don't know what purpose it serves, unless the goal is to get people out of your house as quickly as possible!"

"Well, alright then." Rory took a deep breath, "I heard from Logan this week."

"Logan?" Gigi questioned.

"Logan is Charlotte's father." Christopher whispered to his daughter.

"Logan? Logan Huntzberger had the nerve to come around here? What the hell did he want?" Emily was clearly not happy with the news, and with a survey of the other adults in the room, none of them were either. "I should've brought my whaling spear from Nantucket!"

"And you let Grandma talk about the couch when you were sitting on this bomb?" Lorelai tried to bring some levity to the situation.

Rory sighed, she wasn't quite sure where to go from here, but as she looked at Jess she was sure that all of the colour had drained from his face, and he looked heartbroken. "He didn't know." Rory explained, she was still looking straight at Jess, "His wife got the e-mail and deleted it after she forwarded a copy to herself. He only found out on Thursday, she asked him for a divorce and gave him a copy of the e-mail." Rory explained, "before you all say it, I don't have any proof, but I believe him. Even if none of you are particularly happy about it, that is going to have to be good enough, because I believe him, and I am Charlotte's Mom, and Logan is her Father."

"So what does this mean?" Luke asked.

"I don't know." Rory admitted, "He wants to have a chance to get to know his daughter. It doesn't change the last four years, and the feelings, the relationships that Charlotte has, but he deserves the chance to be a parent."

"I have to go." Jess stood up, he didn't know what to say, or how to feel, he just knew that he needed to get out of there.

"Jess," Rory followed him as he walked quickly to the front door, "Jess please talk to me."

"Jesus Rory!" he exclaimed once they were both outside, "You didn't think you should tell me privately? I mean, I get it, we aren't a couple, but we had sex like...36 hours ago? She calls me _Dah,_ and yes, I know how to spell, so I know it isn't _Dad_ but it's pretty damned close. So now Richy Rich comes to town and gets to play Daddy? Is that how little I've meant to you?"

Rory felt tears falling from her eyes as he spoke, "No, Jess, no. That is not it. You are the most important man in her life and you know that. But what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to tell him no? He is her father, biologically she is his, and if I am not careful, a man with billions of dollars at his disposal can come in and with his big time lawyers demand 50/50 custody, or he could try for worse. I need to be smart about this, and I need you to keep being the person you are to us. We are family, the three of us are family. It might not be perfect, or conventional, but you and I, we are the family that she knows."

"I just...Rory I need some time. I don't know if I can be all of that for you anymore. I can be that for her, I will be whatever she needs and whatever she wants for the rest of her life, but I don't know what I can be for you."

xxx

Logan wasn't sure what protocol was for entering the apartment that his wife owned in Paris. He had a key, they were still married, he supposed he could just let himself in, but something about that seemed...douchier than he was wanting to be, so instead he knocked on the door after walking past the doorman who nodded uncomfortably at him. Logan had to assume that this is where Odette carried on the majority of her affair, she was normally in Paris for about a week each month, more often than not without Logan. He waited a moment and then a man opened the door, he was older than Logan, his hair was salt and pepper and he had stubble on his chin, he wore a t-shirt and sweatpants, which struck Logan as odd, sure it was a Sunday, but Odette had always been the type of girl who was put together. She didn't subscribe to yoga pants and Ugg boots under any circumstances, and so to see someone so disheveled as her possible suitor seemed off.

"I'm Logan Huntzberger, I'm here to see my wife." he greeted the man. He smirked inwardly as the blood drained from his face and he merely stepped aside to let Logan in, "O, it's me." he shouted into the foyer.

"Logan?" her voice came rushing towards him, her hair in a loose ponytail with a pair of sweatpants slung low on her hips and a white v-neck tshirt, Logan was surprised that she wasn't wearing a bra, this was not the woman he knew. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"We need to talk." he shrugged as he walked into the apartment, "I mean, title or not, this is community property in the divorce, but I didn't need to walk in and see you with...whoever this guy is." he smiled awkwardly as the man stood watching them, "Do you mind? Just give us an hour or two? Don't worry, I'm not here to win her back, she is yours."

"Logan this is Michael." Odette sighed, "Michael, this is my soon to be ex-husband, Logan. Can you give us some privacy? I will call you later." she assured him, he leaned forward, mumbled something in her ear and placed a quick kiss on her cheek, as if to mark his territory, and then he walked out to leave them to their conversation. "What do you want Logan?"

"What do I want?" Logan laughed, "O, you've been blowing up my phone for nearly three days. Presumably you wanted to make sure I wasn't going to jump off a roof or a bridge or something, or maybe you were more concerned about your image." his voice was cool, he tried to keep as calm as possible while he spoke. "Tell me, tell me what happened. How this happened? How did we get here? You could've just let me see the e-mail, we would've gotten a quiet divorce and we both could've been happy earlier. Isn't that what you wanted? You said we both deserved to be happier than we were...so why didn't I deserve that chance four years ago?"

"Do you remember our wedding Logan? And all of the stress that went with it? You thought we would be able to quietly walk away?" Odette scoffed, "I did something horrible to you, and I regret that. But how did you screw up like that? We discussed it, each of us were going to go and break it off, I with Michael and you with Rory, but you got her pregnant? I would hardly call that breaking it off?! We flew from France to Fiji and you didn't even notice that I was furious. We didn't even speak the whole flight." Odette raised her voice as she spoke, "I gave him up, he hated me, I got married to someone else and so did he, so I was not about to send you back to your precious girlfriend to play house." she admitted, "It was awful, and I feel terrible about it now, but in those moments, I was just trying to keep my life together."

"By keeping an innocent baby from her father?" Logan shot back.

"Oh how do you even know that she's yours!" Odette spat, "This can't be the first person to claim to be the next heir to the Huntzberger fortune? Do you even know that she is yours?"

"You are such a bitch." Logan shook his head, "She is mine, that isn't a question. But good news, O. On my way over here, I got an updated package sent over by my lawyers. Door number one is that we'll be getting an annulment based on fraud." he tossed the paperwork he had brought with her, "You may have given up Michael, but it seems that your tennis instructor filled the void, right up until the week of the wedding. And, you know, like you just said, neither of us would've married the other had we known they were cheating right until the wedding. So you duped me into this wedding by making me think we were just with each other, hell, the diseases I could've contracted - good thing we used a condom for all these years. So that is door one, a messy, reputation ruining annulment, or door number two. Door number two might be a bit better for you, but not much. I will not tell anyone about your open-leg policy leading up to, and throughout our marriage, and you will admit that you withheld the information about my child. You will include a statement in our divorce papers saying that you hid the information from me because you were afraid of losing me. You will figure out a way to get in touch with Rory and you will _respectfully_ explain what you did and that I had no part in it. I will admit in court documents to engaging in a longterm relationship while we were together, and that relationship produced a child who I just became aware of. You will not keep the apartment in the city, I will, you can keep Paris, and you will return any Huntzberger family heirlooms, as decided by my Mother and Sister. Basically if a Huntzberger wore it before you, you won't be keeping it."

"You would really do this to me?" Odette had to admit she was surprised, she hadn't expected him to be so vindictive, normally Logan was relatively docile when it came to matters of the heart, he was a romantic.

"You kept me from my daughter for four years. If I didn't have a multi-billion dollar organization to run, I would spend the next ten years of my life dragging your name through the mud, but I don't have time for that. So instead, while you're here explaining to Michael all the men you fucked while you were supposedly 'with' him, I will be getting to know my daughter." Logan dropped a second set of papers in front of her, the ones with the updated divorce agreement, "Sign them and have them sent to the lawyer."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: We see Logan/Charlotte meet this chapter. Keep in mind it will take time for them to be full on father-daughter. The kid-speak comes largely from my niece (4) and nephews (3.5). I am back at work from mat leave now, so I don't have as much time...and for some reason, I haven't been able to upload anything lately

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls

 **Chapter Four:**

 _Staying at The Logan again, just arrived. Let me know what you want to do_

Rory read the text from Logan several times before she decided how to respond. It was Saturday morning and they had all had a bit of time to digest the information. Rory had dealt with her parents and Grandmother who were hesitant but they were also optimistic about what this meant for Charlotte. Rory was glad that they were keeping an open mind, she wasn't sure exactly how they would feel when Logan started coming around, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it. Jess was a whole other story, he was pissed, and Rory couldn't blame him, he had been the only father figure Charlotte had ever known. Rory had been surprised when she had received a call earlier in the week from Odette Huntzberger. She had taken responsibility for hiding the information about Charlotte from Logan, and had explained that she would be including a statement in their divorce agreement, it would simply explain her part in the situation, but it wouldn't give any details about Rory, or Charlotte. Rory was glad, she was glad that she could still trust her gut when it came to Logan, and she was also glad that she would still be allowed some privacy to deal with the matter. Oddly enough, Jess had been glad when she told him, he had told her that it was good for Charlotte too, because in a few years when she googled her father, it would be clear that he wasn't just an asshole who chose not to be around.

 _We're going to be home all day, why don't you just stop by? We can start with just hanging out and go from there. Please don't say who you are right away. I need to explain it all to her._

Rory knew it was selfish, to ask him not to claim her, she knew that he wanted to, but she was trying to be sensitive not only to Charlotte, but to Jess as well.

 _I'm on my way_

His response was immediate, Rory had wished that he was unpacking, or had some work to do for a little bit, but she supposed that would just be delaying the inevitable.

"Charlotte," Rory called from the kitchen into the living room, "sweetie can you come into the kitchen."

"I'm watching Thompas!" Charlotte shouted back, "You say-ed one show!"

Rory took a deep breath, she was right, Rory had promised that she could watch one show that morning, and by her own calculations it should be over any minute. Rory could feel her stomach doing backflips, worrying about the upcoming meeting when she heard the front door open. "Hello?"

"It's me." Jess called, "Sorry, I meant to call, but I forgot my phone at home." he walked into the kitchen with two coffees and what looked to be a bag of pastries. "I've been a dick this week." he admitted.

Rory smiled at the gesture, "You have been a dick this week." she agreed, "But you're about to be even more mad at me." she told him, he nodded as if to tell her to continue, "Logan is on his way over to meet Charlotte for the first time."

Jess tried to hide his obvious annoyance. His jaw clenched up and he felt himself making a fist with his free hand, "Well, can I stay for a bit? At least enjoy the coffee? It might be better for Charlotte?" he suggested.

Rory wasn't sure this was a good idea, but she also understood why Jess was feeling so territorial, even if she wasn't _his_ daughter, he had helped take care of her since she was just a few weeks old. "Sure." Rory agreed, I need to talk to Logan a bit first, and then I'll introduce them. So maybe you can hang out with her while we chat, and then you can make yourself scarce, and I will call you when he is gone."

Jess agreed, he handed Rory her coffee and then went to sit with Charlotte in the living room. Rory tidied the kitchen from the pancakes she and Charlotte had made for breakfast and then waited. She heard a car pull into the driveway and she walked towards the front door to meet it, "Jess we're just going to talk outside for a few minutes, you have her?"

"Got her." Jess called back as Rory stepped outside.

"Hi." Logan greeted her, he had a big shopping bag in one hand and what appeared to be a legal sized envelope in the other. "I brought a gift for her." he held up the shopping bag.

"I'm sure she will be very excited." Rory smiled, "I certainly hope it isn't a pony in there."

"No pony." Logan promised, "Not that Honor didn't want to send one. She would like to know if it's alright to call you? Or would that be too soon. You know Hon, she always loved you."

"She can call." Rory told her as she gestured to the front porch and sat down on the steps, "We should talk a bit." she told him.

"We should." Logan agreed, taking a seat beside her. He was wearing a white Armani dress shirt and a pair of navy blue chinos, "How has your week been?"

"Oh you know, the usual." Rory chuckled, "Your wife called, we chatted for a while. She told me her part in all of it, and it was as you had said. Charlotte had her first soccer game, that was a lot more fun than I had expected. I can't begin to tell you how funny it is to watch a bunch of four year olds running around like they know what they are doing. She must get her athleticism from you, because as you know, I don't have any."

"I played soccer." Logan smiled, "When I was younger. I mean, I was no David Beckham, but I played."

"Well don't worry, she's no David Beckham either." Rory laughed, "Next week is her last week of school, so she is pretty excited about that."

Logan folded his hands together, he didn't want to beat around the bush, he wanted to get everything out in the open so that they could move forward. "So what do you see happening here, Rory? I'm not asking for some schedule drawn up that we can guarantee where we will be and when, but I would like to know what to expect, or at least have an idea of it. How she will become a part of my life."

Rory nodded, she understood that Logan wanted to be a part of their lives, and she knew that she had to make some accommodations for that to happen. "Well it is almost summer, so as a teacher I will have some time off, and maybe we can spend a bit of time in New York? If you don't mind coming here sometimes, we can come to you, and we'll be spending some time in Stars Hollow to see my Mom and Luke, so if you still have ties to Hartford?"

"I have a house there." Logan told her, "I mean, I think that sounds like a good place to start. Maybe I could come for her soccer game this week? I know it isn't the most practical thing on earth, but I can get here from New York pretty quickly, and then I would at least get to see her."

"We'll play it by ear." Rory told him, "Logan, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but you cannot jump in with two feet and set a precedent if it is going to change. If things go well and she is excited to see you at every soccer game, and you don't show up, she won't understand that. So if you're going to commit to coming to soccer, or dance, or whatever it is...you have to come to those things. Work doesn't get to take priority anymore. She is my life, my entire world is that little girl, and I will not watch any man come in and out of her life."

"I will keep my promises to her Rory, I swear to you, I will keep them." Logan did his best to assure her. "There's one other thing I want to discuss."

"It better not be jumping off scaffolding." Rory tried to lighten the mood.

"No, we'll save that until she's a little older." Logan grinned at the memory. "It is about money." he handed her the envelope, he knew that Rory wouldn't want to discuss it, but the fact of the matter was, he had a responsibility to his daughter.

"Logan we don't need your money." Rory assured him without even opening the envelope. "I make enough money to pay my mortgage and my car is paid for, we don't want for anything. All I want is for you and Charlotte to have a relationship."

Logan smiled, he knew that Rory had never had any interest in his money, but nevertheless, he was going to help them. "Will you look it over, please?" he asked her, "This isn't about you, or proving that as a Gilmore Girl you can do it on your own like your Mom did, this is about Charlotte."

"You read my book?"

"Of course I read your book." Logan laughed, his eyes sparkling, "You didn't think I would read it?"

"You didn't come when I told you I had a baby." she countered seriously.

Logan nodded, he could understand why she wasn't sure where they had stood all those years ago. "Well I read it, and curiously, you left your pregnancy out of it."

"I'll read through it later." Rory told him, tucking the envelope underneath her arm. "But we should go inside so you can meet her. I should warn you, Jess is here."

"I figured someone had to be inside given that we are sitting out here. Unless you frequently leave our child alone?"

"I try to avoid it." Rory laughed as she stood up, "Grandma says it is frowned upon or something." she joked.

"Emily Gilmore, always worried about what someone else thinks." Logan grinned as he followed her inside.

"Charlotte, Jess?" Rory called as they walked into the house, Logan followed her down the hall to the living room.

"She's coming." Jess called from upstairs, "She heard you talking to someone and thought she should get dressed up for company." he added.

Rory smiled as she saw her daughter walking down the stairs in a striped dress that Rory was fairly certain she had gotten to wear at Easter. "Charlotte this is my friend Logan."

Charlotte looked at the man in front of her, he was holding a bag with wrapped presents inside, and he looked vaguely familiar. Without saying a word she reached for his hand and began to pull him to the room that Rory used as an office. Rory began to follow as well, but the look she got from her daughter told her to stay put. Logan followed her as she marched him into the room and then he stood still when she dropped his hand and began to rummage through a wicker box that was tucked away on a shelf. "You!" Charlotte pulled a photo from the box and shoved it towards Logan.

Logan took the photo and studied it carefully, it was a photo of he and Rory in London, one of the times they had met up with Colin and Finn many years earlier. "That is me," Logan nodded his head, "and your Mom."

Charlotte didn't look at him for long, she went back to searching through the box and returned a few seconds later with a newspaper clipping. "You?" it was more of a question this time, less certainty in her voice.

Logan sighed and took the photo, "That's me, kiddo." Logan nodded, it was a copy of his wedding announcement, there was a post-it note on the back ' _What an ass - Paris'_ he was glad to know she hadn't changed much over the years.

Charlotte just nodded and walked out of the room, she glanced back to make sure that he was following her and then returned to her mother. "Where's Dah?"

"Dah is upstairs honey." Rory told her, "I think we're going to spend some time with Logan though. He brought you some presents for your birthday. Would you like to open them?"

Charlotte shook her head, Logan looked on from a few steps back and waited to see what would happen next. "I want my Dah."

"I'm right here honey." Jess began to walk down the stairs, having overheard the interaction, he didn't want to overstep, but he also wasn't going to ignore her while she asked for him. He didn't know how much longer she would call him Dah, or ask for him at all, so he wasn't going to waste the moments they still had. "Hey Logan." he nodded at the blonde man.

"Hey Jess." Logan nodded, he could feel his chest tighten as Charlotte ran to Jess and put an arm around his leg. "Why don't I head home? We can try again...tomorrow?"

Rory wasn't sure what to say, she couldn't force Charlotte to want to get to know Logan, but she hated seeing him hurt like this. "You know," Jess interrupted her thoughts, "why don't we all go outside and play?" he suggested, "Charlotte has this killer swing set outside, her Great Grandma Emily got it for her birthday last year, and I am sure that she would love to show you how high she can swing on the swings."

Logan watched as Charlotte processed the idea, he could see her eyes sparkle, "I would love to see a swing set, that is a great idea, Jess."

"Whadya say Charlotte? Or would you rather clean your room? I remember your Mom saying we had to do that today." Jess continued to push her.

"No!" Charlotte giggled, "I no like to clean!"

"Well then why don't you get going outside, and we will race you!" Jess began to chase the little girl.

"Sorry." Rory looked at Logan as they followed behind Jess and Charlotte, "She is just...it takes her time to warm up to people."

Logan nodded, "You can't force it. Trust me, I wish we could force it, but I know that it will take her time." by the time they got outside, Charlotte was planted on her swing and Jess was pushing her along. "That is an impressive swing set!"

"Push me?" Charlotte shouted, "Dah, let him push me. 'Ogan HIGHER!" she squealed.

Jess backed away and watched as Logan began to push the swing gently, he could see Charlotte laugh as she went higher and Logan seemed to be talking to her a bit. "He seems well." Jess told Rory as they stood back walking.

"He's not a monster Jess." Rory told him as she watched, she had to admit, the moment made her happy, it was the kind of moment that she had hoped for when she had sent Logan the e-mail. "You two aren't 22 and fighting over me anymore. We have to be adults and deal with an adult situation."

"I don't have to like him."

"You don't have to like him." Rory agreed.

"I should go." Jess told her, "Charlotte seems to have warmed up to him a bit, so I will sneak out. Tell her that I will come by tomorrow night for dinner?"

"Of course. I was thinking I would make burgers."

"By _make_ do you mean _order_?" Jess laughed, "Or do you want me to grill them?"

"I do, you know me well." Rory elbowed him in the ribs.

"Then I will be there." he leaned forward and kissed her cheek before he walked away. "You do the groceries."

Rory kept back for a few minutes, continuing to watch as Logan and Charlotte started to interact. Charlotte hopped off the swing and took Logan over to the slide where he watched her go up and down at least ten times. "Mommy!" Charlotte ran over to Rory, Logan a few steps behind her, "'Ogan says we can get ice cream?"

Rory smiled and raised an eyebrow at Logan, "Did he now?"

Logan laughed, he knew this little girl was going to have him around her finger in no time flat, "I believe that I said that if your Mom said it was ok we could go for ice cream."

"After lunch." Rory agreed, "Do you think that Logan should stay for lunch?"

"Mommy can't cook." Charlotte told him simply.

"Your Mommy can't cook?" Logan laughed, "I seem to remember a time when she started learning how to cook?"

"Not good." Charlotte informed him, "Grampa can cook, and Dah. Not Mommy and Gramma. Great Gramma Emily has a...a cook." she continued, pausing to remember the parts of Emily's staff.

"I seem to remember Luke being a master of the grill." Logan agreed.

"Where my present?" Charlotte asked as she began to walk from the backyard to the house.

"Charlotte Emily!" Rory scolded her, "That is not polite!"

Logan felt awkward, he wasn't sure what the appropriate thing to say was, he wasn't offended by Charlotte asking where the present was, but he also didn't want to undermine Rory.

"Sorry." Charlotte mumbled under her breath. "Can I have a drink?"

Rory opened the sliding door that led back to the kitchen, "I will get you a glass of milk while I make some soup and grilled cheese." she looked to Logan to make sure that was alright, he nodded in response.

"Is it alright if I use the restroom?" Logan asked as Rory poured Charlotte a milk and Charlotte sat down at the kitchen table. Rory nodded and pointed him in the direction of the powder room.

"Mama?" Charlotte took a sip of her milk while Rory put a can of soup in a pot.

"Yes baby?"

"He's where I came from?"

Rory exhaled, she had a feeling from the moment that Charlotte went for the photos that she had realized who Logan was. She had never hidden Logan from Charlotte, but she also hadn't made him a constant, there weren't photos of him all over the house, but she showed Charlotte photos and spoke of him occasionally. "He is honey, Logan is your father."

"Where he go?" Charlotte looked around the room, she seemed concerned that he had left as quickly as he had arrived.

"He's in the bathroom honey." Rory assured her, "Logan isn't going to go away today until bedtime, or until you are done having fun."

Charlotte nodded as she saw Logan walk back into the room, "Hi 'Ogan." she smiled as Rory cautiously returned to making the grilled cheese while the soup warmed up.

"Hi Charlotte." Logan sat down beside her at the kitchen table. "Your Mom tells me you like to read?" Charlotte nodded, "What is your favourite book?"

"Goodnight Sammy and Paddington."

"I don't know Goodnight Sammy, maybe you can show it to me sometime?" Logan laughed, "Paddington on the other hand, I am very familiar with."

"How you know Paddington?"

"How do you know Paddington?" Rory corrected her.

"My sister, Honor has two kids, and they love Paddington." Logan explained, Charlotte seemed satisfied with the explanation. "So, Charlotte, what is your favourite colour?"

"I like pink, and sometimes purple, but sometimes I like blue too." Charlotte told him, "How bout you 'Ogan?"

"My favourite colour is blue." Logan told her, "How about...your favourite kind of ice cream?"

"I like chocolate."

"No way!" Logan put his hand on his chest as Rory brought the food over, "Chocolate is _my_ favourite."

"It Mommy's favourite too."

"It is." Rory joined the conversation.

"Thanks for lunch Rory." Logan smiled, "It looks great."

"It's just grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup, Logan."

"Well as someone who hasn't had it in a while, it looks great."

"Mommy?" Charlotte took a bite of her sandwich.

"Yes Charlotte?"

"I want ketchup."

Rory sighed, it was the joys of having a four year old. On a lot of levels she should have assumed that she needed the ketchup, but the constant up and down of having a young child was exhausting. In some ways it had gotten better the older that Charlotte had gotten, but it was still hard. "Is that how you ask?"

Now it was Charlotte's turn to sigh, "Mommy, can I please have the ketchup?"

"I'll get it." Logan stood up.

"No," Rory interjected, "you're a guest."

"Rory it's ketchup, the fridge I assume?" Rory nodded in response, "I am pretty sure you've been on the go for a long time, so it would qualify as the least that I can do." Logan added.

Rory smiled as she took a bite of her own sandwich. It was nice to have him around, it was exactly as she had envisioned it all those years ago, the only difference was that they weren't together, and he would be leaving to go back to New York the next day.

xxxx

"So his visit was good?" Jess asked as he stood at the barbecue. It was Sunday evening, Rory had called him over about an hour earlier, once Logan had left to return to New York.

"It was." Rory nodded, taking a sip of her wine as she watched Charlotte blow bubbles in the backyard. "She knows who he is, she asked me about it." Rory told him, "She seems cautious, but excited."

"Well, I guess I'm glad then." Jess flipped the burgers and put the cover down on the grill, "What is the plan now?"

"He's going to be in town on Wednesday for her soccer game." Rory told him, "And then he is going away on business for a couple of days, so we probably won't see him until I'm done work in a week. I think we'll probably go to New York."

"Wow." Jess nodded his head and took a sip of his beer, "So he's...jumping right in."

"It's the summer." Rory explained, "If it were during the school year, it would be different, but school is out in a week, and we were going to go back to Connecticut anyway, it's not like we're going out of our way."

"Can I still take her camping over Labour Day?"

"Of course you can." Rory assured him, "Things are different, but it doesn't change you, or you and her."

"But it could change us."

"I don't know." Rory admitted, "I mean, I'm not looking to jump into a relationship with the man, Logan and I don't know each other anymore. But I need to sort things out between him and Charlotte. That is what is most important."

Jess nodded, simply acknowledging that he had heard what she said, "Burgers are ready." he passed Rory the plate with the food on it, "Charlotte, come on babe, time for dinner." he shouted to Charlotte who immediately ran towards them.

"You cooked them, right Dah? Not Mommy?"

"Of course I did baby." Jess picked her up. "Mommy doesn't really cook that well, you know that."

"Do you know my 'Ogan?"

"Your 'Ogan?" Jess repeated.

"My 'Ogan." Charlotte repeated, "He lives in a tall house and likes Paddington."

"Oh, Logan." Jess realized what she meant, "Yes I do know Logan."

"He's nice."

"He sure is kiddo." Jess tried to keep a smile on his face, "I love you Charlotte."

"I love you too Dah."


	5. Chapter 5

**a/n: Thank you for all the kind reviews, I wanted to post a chapter back to back because i feel bad about the delay the last time...silly internet. I also want to touch base on Jess. This story is Rogan, however the fact of the matter is that Jess is a father figure to Charlotte, and that isn't going to change. His relationship with Rory will change, and Charlotte will have a relationship with Logan, but it doesn't mean she won't always see Jess as her Dah. A lot of the interaction is based off of my niece who didn't know her Dad until she was about this age.**

 **Chapter Five**

"Did you read this?" Jess exclaimed as he looked at Rory when she returned from putting Charlotte to bed.

"I did." Rory raised an eyebrow and exhaled, "It is a lot."

"Your daughter will have more money than me, probably more money than I will ever have." Jess couldn't wrap his mind around the proposal that Logan had given Rory.

"I don't know what to do." Rory admitted, "You know, it is a lot, but by the same token, she _is_ a Huntzberger, it's kind of a birth right. Like my Grandparents had a lot of money, and my Dad's parents too, but the Huntzbergers...they own the media, they have _a lot_ of money."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Rory admitted, "It's not really something I had given much thought. I mean, we are good, we are happy, I can pay my mortgage, my car is fine..."

"Well according to this, Logan Huntzberger will pay your mortgage if you want him to, like pay it off, no more payments, and he'd probably throw in a Range Rover too."

Rory smiled awkwardly, Logan would do that, all of those things, but she didn't want it, and Rory knew that Logan knew that. "He will set something up for Charlotte, and I don't expect or want anything more. I don't need his money, if I had needed, or wanted the money, I would've been banging down his door a long time ago. I'm not Anna Nicole looking for the money."

"Logan also isn't a million years old." Jess joked.

"That is true, he is not, and I don't think Anna Nicole had a baby with the old guy?"

"I think you're right. Bad reference."

"It's hard without Mom around, no one to practice on."

"I should go." Jess finished his beer, "You should call your Mom, work on your references."

"You don't want to stay for another drink?"

"I can't Ror, I'm sorry."

xxx

"Til, did you confirm I can use the chopper tonight?" Logan shouted from his office, it was Wednesday and he needed to make it to soccer that night, "I need to get to Philly."

"It is ready to leave whenever you are." Matilda came into his office, "Do you mind if I ask what is in Philly? You've always struck me as more a filet mignon guy, are you actually a Philly Cheesesteak kind of guy?"

Logan chuckled to himself, he hadn't told anyone what was going on outside of his parents, sister, Colin and Finn. "I've just...it's some personal stuff." he felt bad not telling her the truth, "And I promise once it is a bit more sorted out, I will tell you everything. Right now, no one really knows what is going on."

"You don't owe me an explanation." Matilda assured him, "I just worry about you, you know that." he nodded in response, "I also had a realtor go through the apartment today to get you a price to list it at. It is the agent your sister suggested, so he is going to put together some comps and suggest a list price to you by tomorrow. Do you want him to look for places for you to buy?"

"I'm not sure yet." Logan told her, "I'll stay at the hotel if I need to or crash with Finn, but hopefully we can get the place sold quickly and then I can move on to something else. Know any buyers?" he joked.

"A bit out of my pay grade, Logan."

"Til, don't ever think I'm not telling you because you work for me, you are...a constant in my life, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that." Logan walked to his office door, "I'm going to change and head out, can you tell the pilot I will be ready in 15 minutes." he asked as he closed the door. He had to admit, he wasn't sure what one wore to a kids soccer game, he had never made it to one for Honor's kids, and Colin had never asked him to watch Riley or Cooper play, so the night before he had asked his friend and Colin had simply laughed at him before telling him that casual was acceptable and Logan had settled on dark jeans and a polo shirt. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous, or what impression he was worried about, but he wanted to look the part of soccer Dad.

xxx

"My 'Ogan still coming, right?" Charlotte asked her Mother as she unclipped her carseat restraints.

"Yes honey, he called me saying he is in Philadelphia and he is going to be here soon." Rory assured her, Logan had just called before they got in the car to head over to the soccer field.

"Mommy?"

"Yes Charlotte?"

"Will 'Ogan stay with us like Dah does sometimes?"

"No honey, Logan will not be staying with us, unless by some weird fluke there is no hotel availability in the city." Rory told her as she got her bag out of the trunk, "We can talk about this another day, alright? It is time for your warmup." Rory didn't intend to say anything to Charlotte about any sort of relationship with Logan. That simply was not what she was looking for, she wanted to help Charlotte and Logan build a relationship and beyond that, she had no expectations.

Charlotte ran off to join her team as they ran between pylons, or maybe it was more accurate to say that they ran in the general vicinity of pylons. Rory stood and watched, she noticed the sound of the grass crunching under his feet and like all those years ago, she could feel him before she could see him. "You're really in for a treat." Rory smiled, "Four year olds playing soccer is pretty intense."

"I've heard that, Ace." Logan smiled as she looked at him, "Just wait until the championship tournament"

"I don't think it's really a tournament." Rory laughed as they watched Charlotte laugh and run around the field.

"Oh come on, I looked online at the soccer association and it says there is a championship weekend. Huntzberger's _love_ competition." he joked.

"Well, Gilmore's are not naturally athletic, so we'll have to figure out a happy medium."

"Is there anyone we should be watching out for?" Logan asked as the kids continued working on drills.

"I don't think so, no one is quite at the Olympic caliber."

"And these coaches are...?"

"Volunteers." Rory answered, "Which is insane. They don't even get free registration. Trust me, I asked."

"Do you tip them?" Logan laughed, "I mean, if I'm being honest, I only hear from Honor about the Hamptons soccer leagues and those are a whole different ball game."

"Yes, what a tough life, soccer in the afternoon, sangria in the evening?" Rory joked.

"I'd rather be here." Logan told her, "That's her?" he pointed to Charlotte who was running with the mob of tiny people, "Does she have the ball?"

"I think so?" Rory squinted to look, they were too far to be sure but they both watched as she ran towards the goal and took a shot. Miraculously it made it into the net, not because of any prowess on Charlotte's part, but the fact of the matter was there was a lot of net, and a tiny person to cover it. "I think she scored."

"Well I'll be damned." Logan chuckled, "She scored!" he smiled as he saw her running across the field to see them.

"I DID IT MOMMY! I DID IT!" Charlotte screamed, jumping dramatically towards Rory.

"You did." Rory hugged her, "We saw, it was awesome!"

"You see too 'Ogan?"

"I saw it too sweetheart." Logan assured her, "You're doing great out there."

"I'm tired." Charlotte told them.

"Honey you still have to play." Rory told her, "Go back out and join your friends."

xxx

"That was some soccer game." Logan stood in the parking lot with Charlotte and Rory.

"You come again?"

"I will be here next week." Logan promised her.

"What do you say we go for ice cream to celebrate your goal?" Rory suggested, looking at Logan who nodded to assure her that he would join them.

"Dah too?" Charlotte smiled sweetly.

"Honey he is working, he can't come, but Logan will come." Rory smiled, Charlotte nodded her head in agreement, "Do you want to follow us in your car?"

"Sounds like a plan." Logan agreed as Rory began to strap Charlotte in her carseat and he walked back to his rental car. He drove behind them as they drove about ten minutes to the closest Dairy Queen and they both parked and got out of the car. "Why don't you guys go grab a seat?" he nodded towards the park beside them, "I will go grab the ice cream."

"Sure." Rory reached into her wallet to grab some money.

"Rory, it's ice cream, I've got it." Logan laughed, "Charlotte what kind of blizzard do you want?"

"Peanut butter!"

"What about you, Ace?"

"The same is good."

"Oh come on, we both know you're not a peanut butter girl, you're an Oreo girl aren't you?"

"Mommy _loves_ Oreos!" Charlotte interrupted.

"I remember that." Logan raised an eyebrow to Rory.

"Well then, I guess I will have Oreo." Rory agreed, she had to admit, she was a little bit happy that he still remembered those things about her. "C'mon Charlotte."

Logan happily ordered the ice creams and went to join them on a bench at the park next door, "So I have two peanut butter cup Blizzards, and one Oreo Blizzard. I think they're all for me?" he joked.

"NO! I want ice cream! I scored a goal!" Charlotte laughed.

"Oh, so one for you, two for me, and none for Mommy?"

"Mommy gets one too." Charlotte shook her head, "Remember, she likes Oreo."

"Well then I guess Mommy gets one too." Logan handed Charlotte and Rory both their ice creams. "Did you read over the paperwork I gave you?" he asked Rory once Charlotte seemed enthralled with her ice cream.

"I did." Rory assured him, "And your proposals are all very generous, but we are fine Logan. I don't need a bigger house or a yacht or a summer home."

"Rory please, I need to do something for her, she is my daughter, and like it or not that means that she is also a Huntzberger, and all that goes with that." Logan told her.

"You could put money in a college fund?"

"I will set up a trust fund."

"Nothing too extreme, please." Rory sighed. "I can send you all of her information, I assume that you need a social security number to set up a trust fund for someone."

"It is a standard Huntzberger thing." Logan told her, "What about you, Ace. Isn't there something you need?" he asked again, "It doesn't have to be a yacht, or a summer house. It can be a car, or money in a retirement fund."

"Logan I don't need your money." Rory told him again, "You have an obligation to Charlotte, we agree about that, but I am not going to take anything from you. I've been doing fine on my own so far."

"You are too much like your Mom sometimes." Logan laughed, "Alright, well, lets get something set up for her, and then maybe I'll convince you to let me treat you to a spa weekend or something."

"Don't hold your breath, Huntzberger."

xxx

It was nearly eleven when Logan made it back to his room at the Mandarin Oriental, he was exhausted but it had been worth it. Rory had invited him back to her house where he was able to hang out with Charlotte for a bit longer, and she gave him the paperwork he would need to set up a college fund and a trust for her. He had to admit, he was happy with how things were progressing. Two weeks earlier he didn't know he had a daughter and now he was making some progress. Sure it wasn't sleepovers and being called Dad, but they were getting to know each other.

As he filed the paperwork into his briefcase, he felt his phone ringing from his pocket, "Hello."

"Well baby brother, do you know how hard it is to get ahold of you these days? Where the hell have you been?"

"I just got back from Philly," he explained, "I watched a soccer game."

"Logan I've been inviting you to soccer games for years and you've never made it!" Honor laughed, "I'm surprised you survived, much less took a helicopter to get there."

"What did you and Josh try to use it and it was out with me?" he joked.

"Hardly, I called your office and Matilda told me." Honor explained, "Anyway, I know it's late, but I just wanted to touch base with you about the weekend after this, you know that it is the party in the Hamptons the weekend after this, will you be there?"

"I believe I RSVP'd yes." Logan told her, "Although I always wonder what kind of barbecue requires an RSVP."

"A barbecue in the Hamptons being hosted by a Huntzberger." Honor told him, the disdain obvious in her voice, "Will Charlotte be coming?"

"Hon, I don't know." Logan sighed, "I have seen her one weekend and then tonight, I don't think she's looking for an overnight with me, and I don't think Rory is really the Hamptons type. Much less the Hamptons for a full week of this bullshit."

"Oh come on Logan, she's a red blooded American former member of the DAR, she may not be a Hamptons girl, but it is the fourth, and we will be having a good time. Eventually she will have to see Mom and Dad, you know this, right? Charlotte is a Huntzberger, and I want to meet my niece and spoil her."

"Honor you have kids to spoil."

"Yes but something about a little miniature Logan brings out a whole different side of me." Honor laughed, "Don't change the subject, either you ask her or I will."

"Honor if you want her there so badly, you can ask her." Logan groaned, "I do not want to push my luck for a party I barely want to go to."

"My god all this travel must have made you grouchy." Honor laughed, "Alright baby brother, I will connect with Rory and let you know how it goes. But if she comes, I don't want you taking any credit for it."

"I wouldn't dream of it, goodnight Honor."

xxx

It was Saturday, Rory was sure it was Saturday morning when she heard banging on her front door at 7am. Was her Mother supposed to be visiting? No, that was mid July she was seeing her Mom. She groaned as she rolled out of bed and pulled on one of her old Yale sweatshirts, actually, it was Logan's old Yale sweatshirt. She had refused to get rid of it over the years because it had become hers. "Jess?" she called as she walked towards the door, "Did you forget your key?" she asked as she pulled the door open, "You are not Jess."

"Glad you're as sharp as ever." Honor Huntzberger-Fitzgerald smiled at her, "Long time no see."

"Honor!" Rory was surprised and immediately she felt very underdressed. Honor stood sharply dressed while Rory fumbled around in her sweatpants, "This is a shock!"

"Well, my brother told me that you two had a baby, and that was a pretty big shock given that she's really not a baby, she's four, and he told me it was alright to talk to you, so I wanted to talk. But I didn't think this was a phone conversation, I thought this was an in person conversation, so I thought I would come to you."

"And here you are, at my house..." Rory paused to gauge how Honor was feeling towards her.

"I am a little bit disappointed." Honor admitted, "But I'm excited for Logan, and I understand how this is a very complicated situation that probably isn't what you had meant for it to be."

"That would be correct." Rory exhaled, glad that she wasn't going to get a strip torn off of her before she had a cup of coffee, "Do you want to come in? I can make us some coffee and then maybe get dressed? By some sort of luck, Charlotte is still asleep so maybe you can meet her when she gets up?"

"That sounds lovely." Honor smiled as she followed Rory into the kitchen, "This is quite the place you've got here."

"Well, it's no palace, but it is more space than we need, and I can pay the bills."

"Rory I am not here about money, I know you aren't interested in the money and I am sure my brother has tried. Dad will probably try at some point too." Honor added as Rory began to make a pot of coffee and the two women settled in the kitchen. "He's not mad."

"Who? Logan?"

"Dad."

Rory had to admit, the wrath of Mitchum Huntzberger was not something she was particularly looking forward to, so to hear that he wasn't furious with her was somewhat comforting. "Well I'm glad. I hope that Charlotte will be able to get to know you and Josh, and your parents."

"And I have two kids." Honor added as Rory handed her a black coffee, she shook her head to say no when Rory offered her creamer and sugar, "Two boys, Hunter and Liam, they are..."

"I remember when they were born." Rory admitted of the two boys, "They must be what...six and eight now?"

Honor nodded, "So this thing between you and my brother was for the long run then?"

It was Rory's turn to nod, "I'm not proud of it Honor, and I know that he would've been with me had I said yes, but I was too scared. I thought I was going to make it in this world and I wanted to do it without the nepotism or screwing my way to the top. "

"You weren't _screwing_ him Rory." Honor told her softly, "I mean, ok, maybe you were, but he loved you, my baby brother never loved anything until he met you, and he never stopped loving you. You and he would've known that you weren't screwing your way to the top, wasn't that all that mattered?"

"I guess I am Lorelai Gilmore."

Honor nodded, Lorelai Gilmore was infamous in the Hartford social scene. She had gotten pregnant by a Hayden at 16 and rather than fall in line, she had run, she had run from the names and the money and raised her daughter in a small town. Honor remembered when she was younger being envious of Lorelai Gilmore, but now seeing Rory, and Logan, and Charlotte, and the damage that the _independence_ that Rory had looked for caused, she wasn't sure that being Lorelai would've been all that freeing. "Well, I am not here to talk about the past, what is done is done. I have a niece, and your daughter has two cousins, so hopefully we can be friends."

"I would really like that." Rory took a sip of her coffee, "So you came all the way to Philly just to tell me you wanted to be friends?"

"I came all the way to Philly to invite you to the Hamptons for our July 4th party." Honor explained, "Josh and I and our boys will be there, Colin and Steph have a place and their two boys will be there, all of our parents will be there, Logan will be at his house, I am sure Finn will be somewhere floating around and Rosemary and Juliet normally stay with Colin and Steph. So it is the old crew, just...grown up because they have kids. We eat and drink and swim, there will be a few nannies up there to watch the kids so we can have some adult time if we want." Honor told her, hoping that she wasn't overselling it, "We would love for you to come for the week, and you can stay with us if you'd like, or I'm sure that my brother would be thrilled to have you at his place."

"Let me look at my calendar and talk to Logan." Rory told her as she mulled over the reality of the kind of things that would go down in the Hamptons, they would probably spend more than she made in a year on a single party, "But I really appreciate the invitation."

"Rory I understand why you are hesitant about this, and this life, but it is his reality, and to a certain extent it is Charlotte's reality too." Honor told her, "So take the mansion out of the equation, and just think of it as friends and family getting together and having a good time."

"I will think about it, I promise." Rory smiled, "Now if you will excuse me for ten minutes, I can go and put clothes on and bring Charlotte down?"

"I would love that." Honor told her, "You go, I have an e-mail to send."

Rory walked upstairs and into her bedroom, she washed her face and put on a striped t-shirt dress that fell just above the knee, she had picked it up at when she and her mother had gone shopping the last time she was in Stars Hollow. She pulled her hair into a neat ponytail and went to wake her daughter. "Charlotte," she spoke softly and received a groan in response, "honey there is someone here who would like to meet you." Rory continued, gently rubbing Charlotte's back.

"Pancakes." Charlotte grumbled as she rubbed her eyes.

"Yes sweetheart, we can make pancakes. You get up and come downstairs, alright?" Rory kissed her forehead once more and pulled the blankets away, Charlotte nodded her head in response as Rory flicked on the light and made her way back downstairs.

"You know I always have been jealous of your effortlessness." Honor laughed as Rory reemerged in the kitchen, "That dress is amazing."

"Oh, thanks, I picked it up the last time I was in Hartford. It's from ." she explained as she began pulling pancake fixings out of the cupboards and fridge, "I hope you like pancakes because that was the blackmail I used to get her out of bed."

"Well as luck would have it, I love pancakes." Honor smiled, "I am so very excited to meet her Rory. Logan showed me some photos and some videos from soccer that you sent over, she just...seems so happy and well rounded, and as parents, that really is all we want for our kids, right? Their happiness?"

Rory nodded as he made the pancake mix and then heard footsteps coming down the stairs, "Charlotte honey, in the kitchen." she called as the little footsteps got closer and finally the blonde haired, blue eyed girl came into the kitchen, "Honey, can you say hi? This is Honor."

"Hi honey." Honor bent down and smiled at the little girl, smiling as Charlotte reached out and touched her hair, "We have the same colour hair, don't we?"

Charlotte nodded her head in response, "Hi."

"Charlotte," Rory took a deep breath, "This is your Auntie," Rory saw a confused expression come across Charlotte's face, "you know how Aunt Gi is my sister?" Charlotte nodded in response, "Well Honor is Logan's sister, so because she is your Dad's sister, she is your Auntie." Rory had explained after Logan's first visit that Logan was Charlotte's Dad, she had told her that she could call him whatever she wanted, and that she still had a Mommy and a Dah, but now she had an extra Dad too and he had a family that wanted to meet her.

"Hi." Charlotte repeated.

"Hi." Honor smiled again, "I have two little boys who are a little bit older than you." Honor told her, "Their names are Hunter and Liam."

"I have a friend at school named Liam."

"Well I'm sure he's a lot of fun." Honor smiled as Rory presented them each with a plate of pancakes. "Thank you, these look delicious!"

"Well I'm not much of a cook." Rory laughed, "But I can handle pancakes."

"Mommy is a badddd cook!" Charlotte laughed as she began to pour syrup over her pancakes.

"These don't look bad!" Honor laughed, "And I can assure you, I'm not much of a cook either."

"Charlie," Rory used her nickname for Charlotte, "how would you feel about meeting Honor's kids?"

Charlotte shrugged, "they here?"

"No baby, they aren't here, they're in New York I assume?"

"Hartford." Honor smiled.

"Gramma Grampa live near Hatford."

"I believe I knew that." Honor nodded her head, "Are they still in that little town?"

"Stars Hollow, yes." Rory smiled, "Grandma sold her house a few years ago and lives in Nantucket now."

"I believe I heard that." Honor nodded her head, "Doesn't she volunteer at a museum now?"

"She does." Rory laughed at the memory of her Grandmother giving tours of the whaling museum. "She has really found...a new version of herself since Grandpa died."

"I cannot imagine how hard that must be for her."

"It's gotten easier." Rory nodded her head, "It's been five years, crazy as that is to say."

"Richard was a lovely man." Honor sighed, "It must be an adjustment for the entire family." Rory nodded her head in response, "I do hope you'll think about coming to the party, and for the trip."

"I promise I will think about it."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

 **A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and encouragement, it makes writing all the more fun. Today Charlotte makes some steps forward and she is a kid, so she's open to new people and new things...but that also means that she can get overwhelmed and overstimulated easily, so we'll see another side of her in the next chapter. I also know that Mitchum and Shira weren't always delightful but I refuse to write mean Grandparents. It just feels wrong**

 **Chapter Six**

Rory hadn't been this nervous since before she had Charlotte and she had been bouncing between different publications with meetings after her piece in the New Yorker had been a hit. She was sitting in the lobby outside of Logan's office with their four year old daughter anxiously sitting beside her, colouring in a Frozen themed colouring book.

"Mommy can we go in now?" Charlotte sighed, they had only been waiting for ten minutes, and it was Rory's fault, they were early.

"Not yet honey." Rory gently rubbed Charlotte's back, "Just a few more minutes."

"Where are we going?" Charlotte asked.

"We are going to the Hamptons, Logan has a house there, and we are going to see Honor and her kids, you remember we met Honor, right?" Charlotte nodded her head in agreement, "So there will be lots of kids and you can play in the pool and there will be a barbecue and fireworks. It's a mini vacation before we go see Grandma in Stars Hollow, and then you are spending two whole weeks with Grandma, one week in Stars Hollow and then a week with Great Grandma Emily in Nantucket."

"I like swimming." Charlotte smiled.

"I know you do honey." Rory kissed her head and then went back to glancing around the waiting area.

"I'm just going to go in and check." the secretary, Matilda smiled at Rory and stood up before she walked into his office. "Logan, your guests are here."

"My guests...Rory and Charlotte?"

"Yes, Rory Gilmore and I presume her daughter? And that daughter has a striking resemblance to you..."

"I probably should have told you before." Logan sighed, "Rory and I have a daughter, and I just found out about her a couple weeks ago," before Matilda could interrupt him he continued, "Rory e-mailed me, to tell me, and Odette somehow managed to intercept the e-mail, she never told me. So Rory assumed that I was making a choice, and now, here we are, trying to figure it out."

"I'm sorry." was all Matilda could manage. She had known about the agreement with Rory all the years prior and she had always liked Rory, she had never asked any questions when the agreement seemed to come to an end all those years earlier, "Well, they are both waiting outside, so if you are ready, I believe they are too."

"Send them in please." Logan nodded, "We'll take my elevator to the roof, save the gawking." Matilda smiled as she left his office and then returned a moment later guiding Rory and Charlotte in. "Sorry for the wait." Logan told them.

"No trouble at all, we were early."

"It was just a conference call with my lawyer, about the...D-I-V-O-R-C-E." he spelled it out, "All the paperwork has been put together and filed, so we just need to wait for it to be granted and we are all good."

"I saw the announcement." Rory admitted, the formal announcement of Odette and Logan's divorce had been issued earlier in the week, she hadn't mentioned it when Logan had come to Charlotte's soccer game two days prior, "Are you alright?"

"I'm happy." Logan assured her, "And I have this little kid to deal with," he laughed as he hugged Charlotte gently, "I got you a present."

"It's not my birthday." Charlotte looked at him quizzically as he handed her the neatly wrapped box.

"I know," Logan laughed, "but you remember how Honor told you that she had two little boys?" Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, "Well this is so you three can all match at the pool."

Charlotte unwrapped the gift and opened up a red Burberry one-piece bathing suit, "I like to swim."

"That is what your Mommy told me." Logan smiled, glad that she seemed to like her gift, "There might be some more presents when we get there, is that alright?"

"I love presents!"

xxx

"This is...wow." Rory exclaimed as Logan drove them up the driveway to his house, Charlotte was asleep in the backseat of his Escalade.

"It was a gift." Logan admitted, he was somewhat embarrassed by it, "From my Grandfather when I agreed to come back to New York to run the business, at the time it felt awful, but since he passed away, I just...I don't want to get rid of it."

"I understand." Rory nodded, she had plenty of items she just couldn't part with since Richard had died, "Jesus, Logan I swear I have seen this place."

Logan sighed, "It was in Architectural Digest last year. They didn't use my name."

"Didn't it cost like...fourty _million_ dollars?" Rory gasped, "Your Grandpa spent _fourty million dollars_ on you?"

"Yeah, it's...I don't know." Logan was feeling more and more uncomfortable. "So it is just us here tonight, Finn and Robert will be staying here tomorrow night and for the rest of the week. My sister arrives tomorrow with Josh and the kids, same with Colin, Steph and the boys. My parents are here, and they were hoping to stop by for cocktails to meet her?" he began fumbling a bit over his words, he was nervous and wasn't sure how to act or what to say, "If that's alright."

"They're her Grandparents." Rory smiled warmly to try to reassure him as they finally pulled up to the garage and Logan pulled the SUV in, "Of course they can meet her."

"I'll grab the bags?" he asked as they both quietly got out of the car.

"Why don't you grab her." Rory suggested, "I don't know where I'm going and I think that if we put her into a bed, she will sleep for a couple of hours."

"Alright," Logan walked towards the other side of the car, "how do I..."

"Just unclip her and put her on your shoulder." Rory smiled, "She'll probably snuggle right up and then just lay her on a bed gently. I will grab a couple of bags and wheel them into whatever place is on the other side of the door." she whispered as he picked Charlotte up.

"She's really asleep." he grinned as he put his hand carefully on the back of her head and walked into the house, Rory was unloading bags behind him as he made his way up the back staircase and into one of the many bedrooms. He carefully set her down and kissed the top of her head, "I love you." he whispered as he pulled the blankets over her and she snuggled into the pillow. He understood it now, what Colin had meant about the love you feel for your child, he didn't have room to be angry with Odette for what she did because it wouldn't be beneficial, but he loved Charlotte more than he could ever imagine loving anything. As he walked back downstairs he couldn't help but smile and quickly went to the garage to help Rory. "Does she need a monitor on?"

"She's not an infant anymore." Rory smiled at his suggestion as he helped her with the final two bags, "Do you even have a baby monitor?"

"I have a security system that I can pull up in each room. I don't use it all that often." he explained, "So, do you want to stay in the pool house, or the main house? It's completely up to you and whatever you are comfortable with. I don't want to intrude."

Rory laughed, "First of all, the fact that you have a pool house and a main house is insane, second of all, you aren't intruding, we are literally intruding on your week with your friends and family, and lastly, I think we can stay in the main house, if that is alright with you? It would let you and Charlotte get a bit more of a feel for each other and I think that is important. I mean, I assume that one day you will want to spend time together one on one and so you'll need to figure that out."

Logan smiled widely, he was glad, he had wanted them to stay in the main house, but he hadn't wanted to be presumptuous about their situation, "Well then, why don't I get you a drink, and we can relax, and when Charlotte wakes up I can give you a tour beyond that of the kitchen and living rooms."

"Sounds perfect."

xxx

"My parents are on their way." Logan put his glass of wine down and glanced at his phone. "They'll be about twenty minutes."

"So I should go wake her up." Rory smiled, they had spent the last hour and a half catching up, Logan had given Rory a tour once they both acknowledged that Charlotte would just explore on her own, and Rory had put their bags in the bedroom beside where Charlotte was sleeping, it was a few doors down from the master. "And put her in something other than sweatpants."

"You both look fine." Logan promised her, "My parents aren't mad, my Dad will be ... himself, my Mom will have a few too many glasses of wine, they'll give Charlotte gifts, and they'll be on their way until we see them for the big party at Honor and Josh's house."

"You make it sound like your parents are warm and cuddly."

"They've lightened up a bit." he assured her, "Now go! I will make Charlotte a snack and meet you on the patio."

Rory walked up the stairs, she had to admit, there was something about the entire situation that felt comfortable. She and Logan had enjoyed a cocktail and some snacks, evidently prepared by the cook who seemed to be invisible as far as Rory could tell. She was nervous to see Mitchum and Shira, but she believed Logan when he assured them that the pair had lightened up over the years. "Hey sweetheart." Rory went into the room and found Charlotte still asleep. She didn't nap daily anymore, but it had been a long day, they had flown from Philly to New York on Logan's helicopter (at his insistence) and then took the same chopper to the Hamptons and then the drive over to the house.

"Mommy?"

"Yes baby, it's time to wake up." Rory rubbed her back, "Logan's Mommy and Daddy are coming over to meet you."

"They like Gramma Grampa?"

Rory nodded, "They are, and they are very excited to meet you."

"I get dressed." Charlotte got out of bed and looked around for where her clothes would be.

"In my room honey." Rory smiled as she led Charlotte into the other room, "Mommy is going to change too."

"Mommy looks beautiful." Charlotte smiled as Rory pointed her to her suitcase and then let her pick what she wanted to wear. Rory was relieved when Charlotte picked out a pair of blue gingham leggings and a white linen top.

Rory grabbed a pair of light wash jeans with holes in the knees and a grey t-shirt, she wasn't exactly sure who she was trying to impress and so she opted for comfort. "Come on babe." she extended a hand to Charlotte once they were both dressed, "do you need a snack?"

Charlotte shook her head as they made their way down the hallway and to the winding stairs at the front of the house, "It's big." Charlotte commented as they walked down the white stairs and into the huge foyer.

"It is big." Rory agreed, "We are going to stay here with Logan and a couple of his friends for the week."

"You know them Mommy?"

Rory nodded as they walked hand in hand to the patio where Logan was waiting for them. Rory smiled as Charlotte dropped her hand and ran to Logan, she could hear her telling him how cool it was that his house was so big and then her eyes settled on the pool and she told him how much she loved to swim, he promised her they could go swimming if it was ok with Rory who joined them at the table. "Of course we can go swimming tomorrow." she agreed, it was nearly 5 and Rory had a feeling it would be an early night for Charlotte and probably for her as well.

"For me?" Charlotte looked at the plate of crackers, cheese and grapes in front of her, Rory nodded her head to confirm that it was in fact for Charlotte and the little girl got down to eating.

"Here." Logan handed Rory her second glass of wine of the day, "They will let themselves in." he explained, and as if on cue, they could both hear the sound of footsteps and voices making their way outside. "Mom, Dad, good to see you." Logan stood up, followed by Rory. "How was the flight?"

"Oh you know how the flight is Logan, much better than the drive though." Shira Huntzberger greeted her son, Rory wouldn't go so far as to say it was a warm greeting, but it certainly was warmer than some of the receptions she had seen in the past. "Rory, it's lovely to see you." Shira turned to Rory and took her by the hands, "You look wonderful."

"Thank you." Rory had to admit, even though Logan had warned her of a _kinder_ Mitchum and Shira, this hadn't been what she expected, "How are you doing?"

"Very well thank you. We are so looking forward to a week to relax." Shira smiled and then turned her attention to the little girl who was eating her snack, "And you must be Miss Charlotte?"

"Honey, come over." Rory smiled and Charlotte walked over to Mitchum and Shira with a big smile on her face, "This is Logan's Mom and Dad."

"Hi sweetheart." Shira smiled, "My other Grandchildren call me Nana." she began before being interrupted by Logan.

"Mom." he warned. "Her name is Shira, Charlotte."

"But you can call me whatever you would like."

"Hi Nana." Charlotte smiled warmly at the woman, "I like your necklace." she pointed to the small diamond anchor that Shira was wearing.

"Why thank you darling." Shira smiled, "This is my husband, Mitchum." she tried to consider Logan's previous warning.

"What call you?" Charlotte looked cautiously at the man, eventually reaching her arm out to shake his hand.

"Well pretty lady," Mitchum bent down to her level and shook her hand with a wink, "my name is Mitchum, and there are lots of other names people call me, but my Grandkids call me Pops."

"Pops." Charlotte repeated, the smile growing on her face. "I like to swim. Do you like to swim?"

"Well as a matter of fact, I do." Mitchum smiled, Charlotte simply nodded her head in approval and then walked back to her chair where her snack was. "Rory, good to see you."

"You too Mitchum." Rory nodded her head and accepted his handshake. "So, how is...business?"

"Oh come on Rory, we're all here for a vacation, let's not talk business and work. How long are you two thinking you'll stay here?"

"The plan is the whole week." Rory explained, "Unless something unexpected goes on. We are going to Stars Hollow to see my Mom next week, and then I will go back to Philly, Charlotte will spend a week in Stars Hollow with my Mom and Step-Dad and then they will spend a week in Nantucket with my Grandma."

"How is Emily doing?" Shira smiled as Logan handed her a white wine spritzer, "I heard all those years ago about her dramatic exit from a DAR meeting, and if I am being honest, I was quite impressed."

Rory smiled at the memory, "Grandma is well, she misses Grandpa, but she has a handle on her new life."

"Great Grandma Emily kills whales!"

Shira and Mitchum both looked horrified at the suggestion before Rory spoke up, "No, Grandma Emily gives tours of a whaling museum and there is a brief discussion about spearing whales." she clarified.

"Oh well thank goodness, that is so lovely that she is giving back to the community with her volunteering. She bought the house that she and Richard had been renting for all those summers, right?"

Rory nodded her head, "They had tried to buy it a few times before he passed away but the timing never quite worked."

Shira smiled as she watched Charlotte enjoy her snack, "So Rory, do you have anyone special in your life?"

"Mom!" Logan was mortified by his mother, he couldn't believe she would pry like that, "That is certainly none of your business."

"Just Dah has sleepovers sometimes." Charlotte looked up from her crackers and cheese and smiled.

"He's just a friend." Rory clarified, "He has been helping me a lot since Charlotte was born, and sometimes he spends the night so that he can see her in the morning." she wasn't sure why, but somehow this situation reminded her about the time her Grandparents had arranged dinner with their pastor about her virginity. She knew that she didn't owe the Huntzberger's an explanation of her sex life, but for some reason she found herself feeling like she was a teenager.

"Mom, Dad." Logan gritted his teeth as he spoke to his parents, "Charlotte is really excited to meet Hunter and Liam, we got her a bathing suit to match them."

"I like to swim." Charlotte smiled as she popped a grape in her mouth.

"Do you have a swimming pool at home?" Shira asked as Logan passed her a glass of white wine that he had poured.

Charlotte shook her head, "Great Grandma Emily has one, and Papa has one and there is one near Gramma and Grampa."

"Well it sounds like you have pools covered now that you've got on here too."

"This is 'Ogan's pool." Charlotte corrected her. "Not mine."

xxx

"Do you want Logan to read you a story, or Mommy to read you a story?" Rory asked her daughter after she had put on her pajama pants.

"Mommy." Charlotte told her.

"Alright, you pick a story and get in bed, I will be right back." Rory assured her and then walked quickly down the stairs to tell Logan, "She wants me to read tonight, but maybe you can try again for tomorrow?"

"I'm not in a rush." Logan assured her, "I'm going to tidy up from dinner and probably settle in to watch a baseball game, read some work e-mails and have another drink."

"How grown up." Rory laughed, she had to admit, the day they spent together, she couldn't help but wonder if she had said yes any of the time he had asked her to be with him before Charlotte, if this is what their life would've been like. "Can you pour me another glass of wine? Whatever we had earlier?" she asked, Logan nodded as she went back up the stairs to read the book, "What did you pick?" she asked as she hopped into the bed beside Charlotte.

"I don't want a book." Charlotte put her copy of Paddington down on her legs, "What about Dah?"

Rory sighed, "What do you mean honey?"

"You say 'Ogan is my _Dad._ " she stated, "What about Dah?"

"Dah is your Dah, and he will always be your Dah. Logan can be whatever you want him to be honey, he can be Logan, or Dad, and you don't have to choose now." Rory assured her, she knew it was confusing for Charlotte to have a new set of Grandparents thrown into the mix and then a new Aunt and Uncle, cousins, it was a whole new family for her. "What do you want Logan to be?"

"He's not going anywhere?"

Rory shook her head, "No baby, he isn't going anywhere, he will always be there for you."

"He be my Dad, and I have a Dah." Charlotte explained.

"You can do whatever you want honey, you decide."

xxx

"So tell me about it." Rory gave Logan a smile, one she knew from experience he wouldn't be able to resist. It was nearly midnight and they had finished another bottle of wine, catching up on what their lives had been like without each other. "It couldn't have been all bad."

"You really want to know about this?"

"I really want to know."

Logan sighed, she was asking about Odette, he knew it was liquid courage that was driving the questioning but he was still hesitant to answer. "O was...she was as good person, and we were in this impossible situation and we tried to make it work. We both knew the other one wasn't madly in love, but we got by."

"Did you cheat on her?"

"Other than with you?" he asked her, she nodded her head in response, "It was only you Rory Gilmore, it was always only you."

Rory felt sad as he said it, like he had simply accepted something comfortable instead of fighting for something magical. "I'm sorry that I was too afraid to try again." she admitted, "That I had wanted _Vegas_ so desperately. The truth is, I didn't want Vegas, but I was afraid of what our life together would've looked like."

"You still wanted to do it on your own." Logan shrugged, he had long since come to terms with why she would always say no when he had asked her for more. "How about you? Was I one of the many?"

"I was dating someone." Rory acknowledged.

"Peter?"

"Paul." Rory sighed, she had actually run into him when she was about 6 months pregnant, she had apologized for how she treated him and he had said something about timing and how it wouldn't have worked out. "There was no one else."

"Let's not do this." Logan shook his head as he finished his own glass of wine and put the glass on the table. He wasn't going to open another bottle without Rory asking for it. "We don't need to talk about the people we dated or didn't date, we weren't together in any official capacity, we don't...owe each other the gory details. Tell me about Charlotte, what was she like as a baby? What was her first word? When did she take her first steps?"

Rory smiled, she had told him bits and pieces and she had sent him videos and photos, but they hadn't really had a lot of time to just sit and talk about her, what she had been like, what it was all like without him, before him. "Why don't I tell you about when she started really crawling." Rory chuckled softly at the memory as Logan nodded his head to encourage her.

 _"_ _Charlotte, honey, come on," Rory sighed as she chased her daughter down the hall and into the master bedroom, "do not go near that plant!" Rory cautioned as Charlotte pulled herself onto her feet by using the chair Rory liked to read in. "Please honey." Rory almost pled with her, she didn't want to actively dissuade her from moving, and she wouldn't hurt herself, but Rory didn't want Charlotte to tip over the potted plant beside the chair, mainly because Rory didn't want to have to clean up the mess._

 _"_ _Mmmmmmmmmm MA!" Charlotte giggled as she toddled along the chair using her hands for support and then turned to face the plant, one hand holding her steady on the chair. She slowly and delicately used her other hand to give it a push and as Rory groaned, Charlotte erupted in a fit of giggles._

 _"_ _You think you're funny, don't you?" Rory laughed as she picked Charlotte up before she could cover herself with potting soil, "It is a good thing you're cute." she added as she began to tickle Charlotte, laughing as the little girl squirmed and laughed uncontrollably._

 _"_ _Mmmmmmom." Charlotte squealed as Rory finally stopped and pulled her close to her chest for a hug._

 _"_ _Yes Charlotte, I am your Mom."_

"She would really just look at you with pure defiance and tip it over."

"She must've done it ten times before I finally got rid of the plant." Rory admitted.

"She certainly is strong willed." Logan laughed.

"Something like that." Rory nodded as she felt her phone buzz in her pocket, she gave Logan a small smile as she looked at the text message from Jess.

 **Is she having fun?**


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Please make sure you've read Chapter 6 - I didn't get an e-mail when it updated and it never bumped to the front page...so better safe than sorry. I *hope* to have another chapter by Sunday?

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls

"You get a message from a ghost?" Logan asked, Rory had looked at her phone and then immediately something about her face had changed, she looked tense and worried.

Rory shook her head and ran her hand through her hair, she smiled and sat up from her reclined position on the couch, "It is late, I should go to bed." she told him, "Today was fun though, I think we are going to have a good week."

Logan nodded his head and stood up, he reached forward and took her wine glass from her, "Is there anything in particular you want for breakfast?"

"Charlotte eats just about anything, and so do I, so whatever you want." Rory told him as she began to walk towards the stairs before stopping, "Do you need help with dishes or anything?"

"Go to bed Ace." Logan smiled at her warmly. "I've got this."

Rory nodded her head, "Goodnight." she smiled before continuing towards the stairs and into her bedroom, she quickly checked on Charlotte who was fast asleep, and then she looked down at the message on her phone.

 **She is so far. She will meet his nephews tomorrow. How is your weekend going? x**

 **Not as glamorous as yours. Try to get some writing done?**

Rory sighed, she was hoping that Jess might have lightened up, and sure, in some ways he had, but he was still keeping her at arms length and it was hard on her.

 **Will do, night.**

 **Night.**

xxx

"Mom! Mom!" Charlotte squealed as she stood on Logan's shoulders in the pool, "Look! I'm a giant!"

Rory laughed from her spot beside the pool, "Be careful!" she warned them both as she looked back down at her computer, she had decided to listen to Jess and try to get a bit of work done, she figured change of scenery might help to inspire her.

"Throw me!" Charlotte laughed as Logan walked slowly through the shallow end with her on his shoulders.

Rory laughed as she heard a big splash in the pool followed by laughter, she decided to close her laptop and join in on the fun. "Charlotte do you think I should swim too?"

"Mommy come in!" Charlotte laughed as Logan helped her get on a floaty and began to pull her around the pool.

Rory smiled and walked towards the steps of the pool, "You guys can't have all the fun." she smiled as she swam towards them, plunging under the water and pushing her hair back, when she broke the surface she immediately squirted water out of her mouth and onto Logan with a laugh.

"Mommy got you!" Charlotte laughed before she leaned and took a mouthful of water to do the same.

"Hey!" Logan pretended to be offended, "You two can't gang up on me!"

"Can too!" Charlotte grinned as she squirted water at him once more, "Get him, Mommy!" she encouraged her mother.

"No more honey." Rory spoke calmly to try to calm Charlotte down a bit, "Why don't we just swim."

"Is Dah coming?" Charlotte asked. "Dah comes swimming."

Rory looked to Logan to try to gauge his reaction, he was keeping his composure at the very least, "Honey, remember this is just special for you and Logan." Rory explained to her, "You and Dah are going to spend a week together at the end of August and go camping. Remember?"

"Oh," Charlotte nodded, "ok." she seemed satisfied with the answer as she used the flotation device to doggy paddle her way to the side of the pool.

"Camping?"

"Jess asked to take her camping over Labor Day." Rory explained, "I said he could."

Logan nodded, there was no way he could complain, and he wasn't angry, but it was an adjustment to think that he would always have to share them with him. "That will be fun." he smiled. "Are you really wearing a turtleneck bathing suit?" he changed the subject, referring to Rory's high-necked swimwear.

"I am." Rory laughed, "Paris bought it for me," she explained, "I think one of the actresses Doyle was working with told her it was all the rage."

"Well that makes a bit more sense." Logan laughed, they were both moving steadily towards Charlotte as she drew pictures with the water on the pool deck.

"When will everyone be here?"

"What time is it?" Logan asked, they had gotten in the pool after breakfast and had been playing ever since.

"Just before eleven when I got in."

"They'll get here after lunch."

"Charlotte honey, why don't we get out of the pool for a little while." Rory suggested, swimming over to where Charlotte was playing at the edge of the pool with her water wings on and her pool float around her.

"No Mommy, I want to swim."

"We can swim after lunch, but we need to have lunch and then I think we are going to meet some new people."

"I don't want to meet any more people." Charlotte whined, she was normally well behaved, but all kids had their moments.

"Honey, you are being rude." Rory told her in a stern tone, "Why don't we go inside, get dressed, play for a little while and then we can eat lunch and we will go from there."

Logan watched the interaction from a few feet away, he was still incredibly unsure of his place in all of this, he didn't want to over step, but he also didn't want to always leave Rory having to be the 'bad cop' so to speak. He swam to the edge of the pool and got out of the water, hoping that maybe it would coax Charlotte into doing the same. "I'm going to dry off." he told them as he grabbed a towel and patted himself down.

Rory smiled, she appreciated what he was trying to do and she was hopeful that by him getting out of the pool it would draw Charlotte out as well, "Charlotte..." she warned.

"FINE!" Charlotte glared at Rory as she shimmied along the edge of the pool until she reached the stairs and climbed out. Charlotte stomped her feet until she was over at the pile of towels and took one.

Rory quietly got out of the pool and gave Logan a weak smile, he hadn't seen Charlotte in a bad mood, but he was about to. "Drop the attitude, missy." she warned her as Charlotte scowled at her mother.

"I want to swim!" Charlotte shouted at Rory.

"We will be back in the pool later," Rory promised her calmly, "you cannot be out too long or you will get a sunburn, so we are taking a break and then we will come back out to the pool after lunch."

"I want to swim now!"

Rory exhaled and wrapped a towel around herself, counting to three in her head in an effort to stay calm, "We are done swimming for right now. If you do not apologize to Logan for being rude, you will not be coming to the pool this afternoon, you will be going straight to your room and you will not be playing with your toys, do you understand me?"

Charlotte was defiant, she crossed her arms over her chest, "I HATE YOU! I WANT TO GO HOME AND SEE DAH!" she shouted before she ran into the house. Rory was a few steps behind her and could hear the little girl begin to cry as she slowed to a walk to go up the stairs and into the bedroom. Logan was left standing outside, he knew that Jess was the only real father Charlotte had ever known, but it didn't mean it hurt less when he thought about it.

Rory waited a few seconds before letting herself into Charlotte's room, she walked in quietly along the hardwood floors and sat down on the bed beside Charlotte who was sniffling into her pillow, "I'm sorry that you miss Dah."

"I want to go home." Charlotte sniffled as she rolled over and curled up against her Mother.

"This is a lot for you." Rory acknowledged, partially to Charlotte and partially to herself, "New people in your family, Logan..." she paused, "Honey your Dah is your Dah, that isn't going to change. Jess loves you and he always will...but...I want you to understand that Logan...he was supposed to be here all along." Rory knew she was speaking in a way that Charlotte didn't completely comprehend, but Rory was saying it to herself too. "We can't go home, we are staying here for the week, but Dah is going to be in Stars Hollow next week, and maybe you can Facetime him later?"

Charlotte nodded her head in response, "I like 'Ogan." she stated.

"I know you do honey, you don't have to pick one of them."

xxx

"How is she?" Logan asked as Rory came back into the kitchen after about half an hour.

"She's confused." Rory acknowledged, "She's a bit overwhelmed by all the people and the introductions, and I can't blame her for that. She is also afraid that she is picking between you and Jess, and that scares her."

"I never thought I would have to share my kid with him," Logan chuckled, "but she loves him, and I don't want her to choose. I want her to get to know me and like me and love me, but I don't want to take all of those things from Jess."

"Good." Rory nodded her head, "I think maybe it would be best if Charlotte and I go and do a bit of sight seeing this afternoon before the guys arrive, give her some normalcy. Would it be alright if I take your car?"

Logan nodded, "Of course, you can take her around, do some shopping, whatever you want."

"I'm sorry." Rory told him awkwardly, "I am sure that was hard for you."

"It's all new." Logan smiled, trying to reassure her that he was fine, "It will all take some time to figure out."

"I'm going to... go change." Rory nodded before disappearing back up the stairs to change. She was exhausted, it wasn't even noon, but dealing with the emotions of a four year old was challenging at the best of times, and these certainly were not the best of times. Rory poked her head into Charlotte's room and told her that she was next door if Charlotte needed anything, the little girl nodded her head and continued to colour in the colouring book she had been using in Logan's office the day prior. As Rory sat down she pulled out her cellphone and pulled up Facetime, she needed to talk to Jess.

"This is a surprise." Jess answered, he was sitting at his desk at work.

"Well," Rory tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she leaned against the headboard, "I needed to talk to you, and I thought Charlotte might want to hear from you as well."

"Things not as rosey as you were letting on last night?" Jess smirked.

"She is having a tough time adjusting," Rory admitted, her voice cracking due to poor reception, "and she is asking for you."

"I'm always here for her, Rory." Jess smiled, although he didn't want Charlotte to be upset, he was glad to still be the one who could comfort her.

"Do you think that you could meet us in Stars Hollow?" Rory suggested, "I'm sure Mom and Luke would be thrilled to see you."

"Can I talk to Charlotte?" Jess asked her.

"Sure, I'll go get her, just hold on, ok?" Rory put her phone down and went to go get Charlotte, "Sweetheart?" Rory poked her head into the door.

"What?" Charlotte grumbled.

"Dah wants to talk to you."

"He here?"

"No honey, but we can do a video call on my phone?" Rory suggested as Charlotte slipped off the bed and walked to the door.

"Ok." she nodded her head and followed Rory back into the other bedroom, "Just me."

"Alright." Rory nodded, she dialed the phone and handed it to Charlotte who had become familiar with Facetime through her frequent calls with Lorelai, Luke, Christopher and Emily, "Call if you need me?"

"Hi Dah!" Charlotte grinned as Jess appeared on her screen.

"Hi baby, are you having fun?" Jess smiled when he saw her, "You look like you're having fun!"

"We went swimming." Charlotte explained, "And I met Nana and Pops."

"Nana and Pops? That sounds like fun." Jess told her warmly, "Mom said you were having a bit of a rough day?"

Charlotte nodded her head, "It different."

"Charlotte, I know your Mommy told you that Logan is your Dad, you know that I'm still here, right? I will always be yours."

Charlotte nodded her head in response, "You share with 'Ogan?"

"We are different babe, Logan and I aren't going to be the same, but we both love you, and that is the important thing, so sometimes I will hang out with you and Mom, just like before, and sometimes you will hang out with Logan, and that is good too, you're allowed to have fun." Jess told her, he meant the words as he said them, "Did your Mom tell you that we are going to go camping? Just the two of us?"

Charlotte nodded once more, a smile spreading on her lips, "We make marshmallows?"

"We can make marshmallows, and s'mores, and go swimming, just you and me."

"Mommy doesn't like it outside." Charlotte laughed. "I love you Dah."

"I love you too Charlie. Do you feel better?" he asked her, hoping that his pep talk had helped.

"Uh huh."

"So go and have fun, your Mom said you are going to meet some new people, and I have it on good authority that they are going to be a lot of fun. You are an amazing kid."

"We talk after?"

It was his turn to nod as he assured her that they would, "We'll talk later, I love you." he told her again before she hung up the phone.

xxx

"And _then_ we got ice cream!" Charlotte grinned as she sat at the island chatting with Logan, her legs swinging from the chair.

"Ice cream? What kind?"

"It was banilla!" Charlotte told her, "Mommy said there was more new people?"

Logan nodded his head and made eye contact with Rory, "They are here," he told her, "they are some friends of mine and your Mom knows them too." he explained.

"I think actually," Rory interrupted, "I am going to go see them in the pool house, and you can hang out here with Logan for a little while?" Charlotte nodded her head in response to her mother, "I feel like the boys and I have a bit to catch up on, don't we?"

Logan shrugged, "They'll be thrilled to see you." he assured her, "Now go on, Charlotte is going to tell me _all_ about this ice cream she had, aren't you kiddo?"

Rory smiled as she walked towards the patio doors and out across the perfectly landscaped and maintained patio to the pool house, interestingly enough this pool house was larger than her actual house, she knocked on the door before letting herself in, feeling a bit nervous as she did. "I hope everyone is decent." she joked.

"Depends on what you consider decent." Robert joked as he emerged from the kitchen holding a drink, "It's been a while."

"It has." Rory nodded her head, she was relieved when he walked right towards her and embraced her warmly, "It's good to see you." she told him honestly.

"And you." Robert offered her a drink, "You know this could've been us mixed up in this debacle if you hadn't run off with Huntz at Finn's birthday party all those years ago."

"It could've been." Rory laughed as she took a sip of the drink, nearly spitting it out as she did, "Is this straight gin?!" she gasped.

"I bought a distillery!" Robert told her, "What do you think?"

"I think its too early for straight gin!" Rory laughed as she heard footsteps coming from the second level, "Is it the gruesome twosome?" she referred to Colin and Finn.

"I think it is, and Steph." Robert nodded, "The kids are with Honor's boys."

"Well, you my dear look even more ravishing than the last time I saw you." Finn walked into the room and immediately enveloped Rory in a hug, "How are you, love?"

"I'm good Finn." Rory hugged him tightly, she was glad that they weren't furious with her, she could understand why they might have been angry with her. "How are you?" Rory asked him as she turned to embrace Colin. "You guys look so old."

"Well here I was about to agree with Finn and say how beautiful you are." Colin laughed.

"Steph," Rory looked at her old friend, "I'm sorry it's been so long." she told her before hugging her, "You look amazing, you've got two kids?"

Steph smiled and hugged Rory tight, "You're too kind. I cannot believe I never knew about all of this, even Col knew?"

Rory exhaled, "I know, it just...it got so complicated and out of hand." Rory told her, "We didn't mean for any of it to be the way it was."

"You can't control matters of the heart." Steph nodded, "Tell me what is going on? I've been listening to these two yammering on about mergers and acquisitions, and Robert keeps talking about his damned distillery and my kids...don't even get me started on my kids!"

"Why don't we go out for dinner?" Rory suggested, "Maybe just you and me, the kids, Honor and her boys? I think Logan said Juliet and Rose are coming too? They could come? Leave the boys at home to be boys? Except t he kids." she laughed.

"Juliet and Rose will be here tomorrow." Steph told her, "But that sounds amazing, I will text Honor and she can make reservations, and then we will get two drivers so we can have a couple drinks, nothing tackier than a DUI these days. Right Finn?"

"You got a DUI?" Rory gaped at him, she wouldn't be shocked to hear it.

"I did not get a DUI, I got a warning, I blew a wee bit over, but not illegally so." Finn corrected her.

"Potato pohtahto." Steph rolled her eyes, "Anyway, we'll take two cars, Logan said he was getting a carseat?"

Rory nodded, "He has one in his car."

"This will be perfect! I cannot wait to meet your little girl, Logan showed me pictures, she is adorable."

"She will be really excited to meet you too, and some kids to play with. I think she's sick of the grownups." Rory explained.

"This must be hard on her, and you." Steph acknowledged, "All of the...changes?"

"It has been a bit different, but Logan is her father, and this is his life, so I need to try to help her adjust." Rory nodded, "He will be the most amazing Dad."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

 **A/N: I have tried uploading this for weeks, and I have to assume the internet hates me...**

 **Chapter 8**

"You know, of all the places I ever thought I would end up with you guys...I don't think that a place that served melted butter on anything would be on the list." Rory laughed as they all settled in on the patio of Bostwick's Chowder House, Honor had requested the entire patio space, and naturally had been accommodated.

"Well Rory, we've lightened up a bit since those days." Honor laughed, "This place is amazing though, I asked them to do a big clambake for us, and they'll bring a bunch of stuff out for the kids, pasta, chicken fingers, that kind of stuff."

"You've thought of everything." Rory smiled appreciatively, "We only decided to do this a few hours ago!"

"We're all on vacation Rory, enjoy!"

The kids were all seated at one end of the table, Rory was relieved to see that Charlotte seemed excited to spend time with the other kids. Honor had two boys who were both a bit older than her, Hunter and Liam, and Steph and Colin's boys, Cooper and Riley were 6 and nearly 4 respectively. Charlotte didn't normally spend a lot of time with kids outside of her school friends and soccer team, Paris had a son and daughter but they were both older than Charlotte, same with Steve and Kwon, Lane's boys.

"So," Steph cut to the chase, "are you seeing anyone Ror?"

Rory smiled awkwardly, "Not really." she told them, "I have an ongoing thing with a guy I've known for years, he's really great with Charlotte, and we just... click when we're together." she explained, "It's not official, or serious, we just have fun."

"So no boyfriend." Steph nodded, "And Logan is single now..."

Rory laughed awkwardly once more and took a sip of the sangria that she was suddenly glad had been waiting on the table when they arrived, "Logan is in the process of a divorce, and we don't know each other anymore. This is platonic and for the sake of our daughter." she told them in a slightly hushed tone so Charlotte wouldn't overhear.

"Well, let me tell you, his wife was no walk in the park. I couldn't stand Ode-" Steph began before Honor cut her off.

"O not being around is still a new concept for my kids...be nice." she warned, "We may not have loved her, but kids love whoever brings them presents and junk food."

"Sorry." Steph sighed, "I forgot about that factor. How are they doing?"

"They're alright." Honor shrugged, her kids normally saw Logan and Odette a couple of times a month, but Odette normally shipped them the coolest presents and that was not quickly forgotten by them. "I think it's weirder for them because there was no goodbye, you know?" Honor looked to make sure that Hunter and Liam weren't paying attention to her.

"I never thought of that." Rory admitted, "How awful is that? In all of this, I've only thought of how this effects Charlotte and I... I've barely considered the impact it would have on anyone else, especially the kids."

"Honey you did not cause this." Steph assured her, "This was a long time coming, and even if they hadn't split now, when someone found out about the secret she was keeping from him...do you really think he would've forgiven her and moved on?"

"Why don't we move on from this." Honor suggested, "We move forward, that is the only direction we can."

"What are the boys up to tonight?" Rory asked, she knew that they would all be together, but she wasn't sure what was going on.

"Last I heard they were all meeting at Logan's and they were going to be playing poker, smoking cigars and getting drunk in the pool house."

"Yes, Josh told me he was going over to Finn's." Honor rolled her eyes, "Because Finn loves to pretend the pool house is his, he even leaves a toothbrush there."

"Dental hygiene is important." Rory joked as she glanced over to watch Charlotte with the other kids, she seemed immersed in conversation, but she was also paying attention to the colouring book she had brought for herself. Rory was glad that the boys were at least trying to include her, she knew it was easier for Charlotte to meet new kids than it was to meet just adults.

"Well I would imagine that if my husband comes home at all tonight, he will be useless until nearly two in the afternoon." Steph laughed.

"You know, I swear, for all that Josh is an amazing Dad, he is _always_ useless. He would give them chocolate chip cookies for breakfast if they told him it was alright."

"Charlotte will tell anyone who will listen that I let her eat chocolate chips or chicken nuggets for breakfast." Rory rolled her eyes, "The daycare Moms think I am crazy enough."

"The things our kids do to us." Honor smirked, "Without any consideration for how ridiculous it makes us look."

xxx

When Rory walked back into the house with Charlotte, it was silent. There were lights on, but no noise as Rory walked Charlotte upstairs to get ready for bed. They had stayed out later than Rory had originally intended, but Charlotte had enjoyed herself and so had Rory, it was nice to catch up with Honor and Steph and get to know their kids a little bit. "Honey you go brush your teeth, I'm going to put on my pajamas." Rory told Charlotte as they reached the two bedrooms they were occupying.

"I had fun tonight Mommy." Charlotte told her.

"I'm glad sweetheart." Rory smiled.

"Can 'Ogan read me a story?"

"I think Logan is having some fun with his friends tonight." Rory told her, "You go brush your teeth and I will come read you a story." she continued, she waited at the door and saw Charlotte get her pajamas and walk to the bathroom, Rory continued on towards her room and down the hall she saw the light in the master on. She walked towards the door and heard Logan's voice behind it. Rory wasn't sure if she should interrupt him, but she knew that the night before he had wanted to read her a story and so Rory walked down the hall and knocked softly before pushing the door open, "You up?"

Logan looked up from an oversized reading chair and smiled, he put his book down on his lap and pulled his reading glasses off, "I am, sorry you must have heard me talking to my book...it's pretty intense." he told her with a laugh, "You guys have a nice night?"

Rory smiled, "We did. I thought you and the boys would be getting wild." Rory admitted, "I'm surprised to find you curled up reading?"

"The boys are still out there, I felt a little bit like turning in, I don't want to waste tomorrow with Charlotte having a hangover."

"How responsible of you." Rory stood in the doorway, "Charlotte was hoping you could read her a story?"

"Really?" Logan grinned and stood up, "I would love to."

"Well go see her, I'll be there in a couple of minutes once I've put some pajamas on." Rory told him, by the time she finished the sentence he was already at the door and on his way out of the room.

xxx

"And then the prince and Cinderella lived happily ever after." Logan closed the book and gave Charlotte a kiss on the forehead, "Time for bed."

"I don't want to. More books." she pouted.

"We said this was the last one." Logan smiled, "I think your Mom wants to give you a hug and a kiss." he nodded towards the door where Rory was leaning and watching them.

His voice brought her out of the daze she had been in, she had listened to him read her Paddington Bear and Cinderella at her request and she couldn't help but notice how good it felt, how normal it seemed for them to all be together. She wondered how much she had deprived them both of by not following up with him all those years earlier. "Honey, it is time for bed, give Logan a kiss."

"Night night 'Ogan." Charlotte hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight beautiful." Logan kissed her forehead, "I will see you in the morning." he got off of the bed and watched as Rory came and flattened the covers out.

"Sweet dreams Charlotte." she kissed her forehead, "I love you."

"I love you too Mommy."

Rory smiled as she walked out of the room and turned off the light, shutting the door as she walked into the hallway.

"So that is what that's like?" Logan was grinning from ear to ear.

"It is." Rory nodded, "Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Rory nodded.

"She just...all of her feelings are so pure, so unconditional?" they both stopped in front of Rory's door.

"She loves in a way that I don't think anyone can understand until they have kids, and I love her more than I've ever loved anything."

"Me too." Logan looked at her, straight into her eyes the way he had looked at her when they were younger. "You are an amazing Mom, Ace."

"Thank you." Rory smiled awkwardly, "You...you are going to be an amazing Dad."

"We should..." Logan paused, trying to gauge the situation.

"Turn in." Rory nodded, stepping further into her own bedroom and away from Logan and the butterflies in her stomach, "I think you promised her a boat ride tomorrow, so it will be quite the adventure."

"Goodnight Rory."

"Goodnight Logan." Rory slowly closed the door as Logan walked back to his own bedroom to turn in for the evening. Rory grabbed her phone and dialed the familiar number of her Mother.

"Lorelai's line of love..." Lorelai answer the phone quickly.

"Mom?"

"Bueller."

"Mom."

"Bueller."

"MOM!" Rory groaned louder.

"Hiya sweets, what is going on?" Lorelai exhaled, "Where are you? The South of France? Miami?"

"You know that I am in the Hamptons with Logan." Rory told her.

"Oh yes, the Hamptons with your baby daddy, how could I forget." Lorelai joked, "How is that going?"

"It has had...ups and downs." Rory admitted, "It has been hard for Charlotte to adjust to meeting all these people and understanding who is family and everything..." Rory paused, "But tonight...I don't know there was something about tonight."

"What? Did someone break into song or something?"

Rory laughed, "No, I went out for dinner with Honor and her kids, and then Steph and her kids, and Charlotte was there, and it was just so ... normal. You know I've never really fit in with the other parents in Philly, so even though it took some getting used to, it just felt normal. Then I got back to the house and Charlotte asked Logan to read her a story, and he did and it was the sweetest thing."

"You feel like everything is how it should be." Lorelai knew the feeling very well.

"Was that what it was like when I was younger...with Dad?"

"Honey, I don't think you can compare your Dad and I to you and Logan...it is...similar, but it's different. You and Logan were adults, your Dad and I were kids."

"I'm just looking for something that isn't there." Rory shook her head.

"I thought you didn't want anything romantic with him?"

"I'm not saying I want something romantic with him." Rory told her, "But I like the idea of all of us spending the holidays together, or her birthday, like I don't want to split major holidays or events with him, I just want us all to be together."

"I think that you guys will work something out." Lorelai told her, "When are you coming to my place?"

"I will leave here on Thursday I think."

"And you'll be here for a week?"

"Yep."

"Alright, I have to go to bed, we'll talk it all over when you're in town."

"Night Mom."

"Goodnight Ror."

xxx

Rory was halfway down the stairs with Charlotte when she heard Logan's voice say her name from the kitchen, "Rory take Charlotte back upstairs." he shouted. She didn't respond she simply took the little girl back up the stairs, telling her that Logan must have some sort of surprise for them and that he would come get them when it was time.

 **What is going on?** Rory texted him once she got Charlotte settled watching some cartoons in bed.

 **Just an unexpected guest, nothing to worry about.** Logan responded quickly.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Logan glared at his soon to be ex wife.

"Logan I made a mistake, I don't want a divorce, I don't want any of this drama, and I think that if you and I talk about it we can figure it out." Odette was standing in front of him pleading for him to take her back. She had been standing on the front porch when he went outside to get the morning paper.

"Odette a few weeks ago you wanted to be with Michael. You loved him, and he was the be all and end all, and now here we are, once you've told me I have a child you hid from me, and you think I am just going to welcome you back with open arms?" Logan scoffed, "That is rich, even for you."

"Please just think about it."

"You told him." Logan stated, "You told him you had slept with other people and he didn't want any part of it anymore. Is that it?"

"Did you tell her? Your precious Rory that you have upstairs in _our_ house, did you tell her about the others?"

"Odette you are delusional!" Logan laughed, "There were no others, and Rory and I aren't together, we have a daughter, we have enough to fucking figure out thanks to you without throwing any romantic overtures into the situation. Don't compare us, you and I are not the same. You need to get out of _my_ house before I call the cops. I don't think this is a headline that you particularly want these days, so go, save yourself the embarrassment and I will have the passes re-set for the gate. If I see you on any of my properties ever again, including business holdings, I will have you charged with trespassing. Do I make myself clear?"

xxx

"Sorry about the delay guys." Logan smiled as he knocked on Charlotte's door. The interaction with Odette had only last a few minutes, but he needed a few minutes afterwards to cool down. He had already started making cinnamon buns when he had seen her. "I brought breakfast in bed."

"There better be coffee." Rory smiled as he came in. "Charlie should we eat in bed?"

"I love to eat in bed!" Charlotte squealed as she made room for Logan to get onto the bed with them.

"Of course there's coffee, Ace." Logan handed her a mug, "Black." he added for good measure.

"Everything alright?" Rory asked as Charlotte began eating a cinnamon bun.

"Someone was just...expressing their regrets." Logan explained, "It doesn't change anything though. She is gone, and no longer a part of my world."

"We are all in the same world 'Ogan."

"Yes my dear, you are right." Logan laughed, it was amazing to see the simplicity that kids could see things with, everything was black and white, right or wrong, there was no grey.

"What do you want to do today?" Rory asked them both.

"Well, I was thinking that I have a bit of a surprise for you?" Logan told them, "But for that surprise to happen I think that we need to stay home and relax all day."

"A surprise?" Rory looked at him with a little bit of concern between the bites of her cinnamon bun and sips of her coffee.

"I have it on good authority that this surprise will make Charlotte very happy." Logan shrugged, "So if you guys want the surprise, we'll have to stay home."

"What do you think Charlotte?"

"We stay home Mommy! Of course we stay home for the surprise!" Charlotte grinned, "Can we still go swimming?"

"I think it is raining out kiddo." Logan interjected, "So maybe we can watch a movie while we wait for the surprise." he suggested. Charlotte nodded her head in response, and Rory looked at him with a little bit of confusion in her eyes, "And tomorrow we have Honor's party, so we will have a busy day tomorrow."

"What do we wear to that party?" Rory asked, Honor had told her it was happening, but Rory had a feeling that it was a bit more formal than a backyard barbecue.

"Give her a call and ask." Logan told her, "I have no suggestions."

"Charlotte honey," Rory noticed Charlotte about to snuggle back up under the covers, "Your hands are covered in cinnamon, please go wash them and brush your teeth."

"Fiiiiine." Charlotte groaned dramatically and slipped out of the bed, leaving Rory and Logan to talk for a moment.

"So she came here?"

"She did." Logan nodded, "Presumably things with Michael are a lot less rosy when they aren't secret and clandestine."

"I can't say I blame her for wanting you back." Rory admitted.

"You never wanted me back Rory, we were a means to an end...Vegas? Isn't that what you said."

"I was trying to do what I thought was right." Rory told him, "It wasn't right, and I know that, but I was trying to do the most right thing in the situation we were in. I guess I never particularly thought that I would lose you."

"Well, we are stuck with each other for a long time now, maybe not as we had always thought we would be, but as coparents." Logan told her.

"Enough," Rory didn't want to get dragged back into the negative that had gone on over the years, "What is the surprise."

"I am not telling you, it is a surprise for both of you." Logan smirked.

"Logan, I need to know to gauge if it's appropriate." Rory tried to get the information out of him.

"I can assure you, it is appropriate for both you, and Charlotte." he promised.

Once Charlotte returned from brushing her teeth, they all went downstairs and settled by the television. Charlotte watching a movie while Logan caught up on a few e-mails and Rory worked on her book, they all happily existed in relative silence with the exception of the television noises in the background.

"More coffee?" Logan interrupted Rory as he stood up, putting his computer on the coffee table and grabbing his own mug.

"Please." Rory nodded without looking up.

Logan grabbed her mug and walked into the kitchen to pour another cup for each of them, he quickly checked his phone to confirm that his surprise would arrive on time before he walked back into the family room with the beverages. Rory smiled as thanks as he gave it to her and then he sat down to continue with his e-mails. It was about half an hour later that the doorbell rang and brought them all out of their silence.

"Who here?" Charlotte looked at both Logan and Rory curiously, Rory shrugged her shoulders in response, assuming that it was a member of Logan's family at the door.

"Why don't we go see?" Logan suggested to Charlotte who happily got up and took his hand. "Ace, can you pause the movie?" he asked as he and Charlotte began to walk to the front door and he swung it open.

"DAH!" Charlotte squealed with absolute delight as Jess stood on the other side of the door.

"Hi kiddo," Jess bent down and hugged her, kissing the top of her head as he held her close, "I missed you."

"I miss you." Charlotte told him.

Logan smiled, backing away from the interaction as Rory came to the front of the house after hearing Charlotte. "You did this?" she asked him quietly.

Logan shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged, "We're all her family, so it only seemed right. She missed him."

"Thank you." Rory reached down and squeezed his wrist. She knew well enough that this would have been hard for him, to acknowledge that even though he wanted Charlotte to need him and miss him, she was missing someone else too.

"So, Charlotte, why don't you go help Jess pick a bedroom upstairs?" Logan suggested.

"I do! I can do it!" Charlotte nodded her head enthusiastically. "C'mon Dah!"

"One second." Jess adjusted his bag on his shoulder and turned to Logan, "Thank you for doing this." he told him, extending his hand out.

"We're all family I guess." Logan shook his hand, "It's a holiday weekend, and I think that Charlotte would want to spend it with the people she loves."

"Well, I hope we can have some fun then." Jess agreed and then followed Charlotte down the hall and up the stairs towards the bedrooms.

Rory and Logan could hear Charlotte talking to Jess as they were upstairs and Rory waited a moment before she turned to Logan, "I'm impressed." she admitted, "I didn't think you were happy about the situation with Jess."

"It isn't my first choice." Logan told her honestly, "But it is the reality of our situation, and I don't want to make that harder. I heard her talking to him, she clearly missed him, so I tracked him down and asked if he could get here for a few days, he said he could and now here we are."

"You're going to be an amazing Dad to her, and she is going to fall so in love with you, I promise."

"I can't make up for the time I've missed." Logan told her, "But I can try to be there for everything I can moving forward, and the only way for me to do that is for me to acknowledge that Jess is a part of that life."

xxx

"Do I look..." Rory paused as she ran her hand over her stomach and looked at herself in the mirror.

"Beautiful." Jess assured her, "How about me?"

"You look handsome." Rory smiled, she had chosen a black, floor length, spaghetti strap dress made of cotton, it was fancy, but also casual and that is how Honor had described the evening. "How do you feel about tonight?"

"What? Being the poorest guy in the room? Having to explain who the hell I am? Or hanging out with people who buy and sell publishing houses like mine before breakfast on a regular morning?" Jess laughed as Rory adjusted the collar on his dress shirt.

"So I guess we are both nervous then." she laughed as well. "I just need to go talk to Logan about something, do you mind checking on Charlotte and bringing her down when you're ready?" Jess nodded and Rory disappeared into the hallway and knocked on the door to the master bedroom, "Can I come in?"

"I'm just in the closet." he shouted, he could hear her footsteps following his voice until she was standing in front of him, "You look gorgeous."

"Thank you." Rory felt a blush creep over her cheeks, "You don't quite look dressed." she grinned as Logan flipped through his shirts with a pair of khaki pants hung on his hips.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he pulled an undershirt off the shelf, "I can't decide if I should go red or blue."

"Blue." Rory told him as she took notice of all the boxes around her and looked at them quizzically.

"Odette's stuff." he told her, "She had a summer wardrobe sent here when she was at fashion week, and now it is being sent...anywhere but here."

Rory nodded, "Of course, a summer wardrobe." she tried to make light of the situation as Logan pulled the polo over his head, "You look great." she told him.

"Did you come to my bedroom just to compliment me?"

Rory felt the colour returning to her cheeks, "Sorry, no. I was actually wondering...the guests...will anything about...me...or Charlotte...us..."

"Everyone who walks through the door signs an NDA." Logan assured her, "It's mutually beneficial in most cases, but what happens at Honor's stays there."

Rory nodded, "That is what I was hoping you would say."

"Eventually people will find out more, but...that will be when we decide it is for the best."

"I should...go."

"I'll see you downstairs." Logan agreed.

xxx

"See this isn't so bad." Rory clutched a champagne flute as they stood in Honor's backyard, people milling around them and talking as kids played in the pool and on a play structure under the watchful eye of a half dozen nannies and a lifeguard.

"I've been to worse parties." Jess admitted, he had been introduced to Logan's family and friends, they had all been civil at the very least.

"And the booze is free." Rory laughed.

"Go see your friends." Jess nodded towards Logan, Steph, Colin, Finn, Robert, Rosemary and Juliet. "I'm going to go see Charlotte."

"Come by after." Rory nodded, "I think you'll find that you might actually like them."

"No promises." Jess joked as he walked away, he turned back to see Rory casually walking over to her old friends, "Hey kiddo." he smiled to Charlotte as she played with a bunch of kids, there were probably thirty kids running around which was indicative of just how many people were at this party.

"Hi Dah." Charlotte hugged him, "What doing?"

"Just wanted to come say hi." Jess told her, "Are you having fun?"

"Yes, and Aunt... Honor said we have cake soon." Charlotte grinned, it took her a moment to remember exactly who was who given how many people she had met over the weekend.

"Cake?"

"Yup, I have with Mommy." Charlotte nodded over to where her mother was standing and Jess looked too, just in time to catch a glimpse of Rory throwing her head back with laughter as Logan leaned in, his hand on the small of her back and told her something, his eyes creased with laughter as he told her the story. "My 'Ogan invite you?"

Jess imaged that when Logan heard Charlotte call him _Dah_ that it felt an awful lot like the way he felt whenever Charlotte said _My 'Ogan_ , it felt like a punch square in the gut. "Logan did invite me, he thought that maybe I had missed you, and he was right." Jess told her. To say he was shocked when he picked up a call from Logan two days earlier would be an understatement, but the two men had seemingly called a truce. Logan told Jess that like it or not they were both in the same situation and as far as he was concerned, neither of them were going anywhere, so they may as well figure out a way to get along. Jess had agreed, how could he fight it? Logan was right, and at the end of the day, Jess had no legal rights to Charlotte.

"I miss you." Charlotte nodded, "Meet my fwiends?"

"I would love to meet your friends."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I still own nothing

 **Chapter 9**

"I think she's pooched." Honor nodded towards Charlotte as she and Logan both sat drinking a glass of water.

"I think you're right." Logan nodded, watching the little girl somewhat aimlessly wander around the play area, not quite interacting with the other kids, "I think that means that it is the end of the night for me?"

"You could put her to bed upstairs, if Rory agrees?"

"I think I would rather take her back to my place, and no offense, but I think I'm too old for this kind of shit." he joked as he referred to the party that was still going on at nearly 8pm.

"Oh baby brother," Honor laughed, "you go take her home. Thank you for coming, and I love you."

"Love you too, Hon." Logan nodded before he walked towards the kids and stopped once he got to Charlotte, "Hi Babe."

"Hi." Charlotte grinned up at him, "More cake?"

Logan shook his head and picked her up, "No more cake." he told her as they began to walk, "But we are going to go find Mommy, and Jess, and I think it is time to go home, I am sleepy."

"I not seepy."

"Of course you're not." Logan nodded nodded as they walked into Honor's house and he began to scan the space looking for Rory, he saw her talking to his Dad, and oddly enough, Odette's Father. That was why she was in town, he realized, her parents had come to town. They had colleagues that would have brought them to this party, and he knew his Father in law well enough to know that he would never turn down the opportunity to network. He could overhear his father talking, making introductions as his eyes caught with Rory's, _This is Lorelai, she is a published author, old friend of Honor from Yale._ Mitchum had lied through his teeth and Logan was eternally grateful, he eyed the door and Rory gave him as much of a smile as he could before he walked to the valet to wait for his ride home. He would send the car back for Rory and Jess, but he wasn't about to put any of them through the scene that would occur if Odette's father, Jacques, had realized who Rory was, or who Charlotte was, Logan also wasn't sure exactly what Odette had told her parents of their split, he was sure that she would love to give out the details that made Logan an asshole, but he wasn't sure how she would have painted herself in the situation.

"Mommy..." Charlotte grumbled as Logan began to load her in the car.

Logan looked back at the front door as he buckled the carseat and saw no sign of Rory, "Mom will be coming home soon, she was just talking to some grownups."

xxx

It had been four months since the Hamptons and Rory and Logan had fallen into a routine of sorts. He came to Philly every Tuesday and every other weekend he would either go to Philly, or Rory and Charlotte would meet him somewhere else. They had met up in New York, Hartford, back in the Hamptons, normally Rory would spend the weekend but leave Logan and Charlotte to do something on their own as well.

"I have some news." Logan told Rory after he had finished putting Charlotte to bed, he was visiting them in Philly and their next visit would be in Hartford and Stars Hollow for Thanksgiving.

"News?" Rory was cautious as she stood up from the couch, "Good news?"

"I think so." Logan nodded, "I am moving...back to Hartford."

"Hartford..." Rory paused, it certainly wasn't the news she had been expecting, "wow, what has prompted this?"

"Well, you know I've been trying to find a place in New York since I sold my old apartment, and I couldn't find one...so then I thought...my Dad managed to run the business from Hartford, he was in the office three days a week and out of Hartford two, and I have a house in Hartford that I love, so...why not just go and be closer to my nephews and my friends and family...I'm still just a short hop over to you and Charlotte, and if you're in town visiting your Mom, you'll be nearby."

"Wow, well, you've...thought this out. That sounds amazing, when is it official?"

"I've had a contractor doing a bit of work on the place, and a decorator has taken over so it'll all be...new, and I think we are about a week from completion, but I wanted to talk to you about something in the house."

"You need my advice for something in your own house?"

"I want a room for Charlotte."

Rory paused again, she knew it would be coming eventually but the idea of Charlotte staying with Logan still gave her some concern. "That is really generous of you, Logan." she tried to stall for time.

"I'm not saying sleepovers this week, I'm thinking that maybe by next summer we could do that...in the meantime, it is a big house, there is more than enough room for you to have a room too. I just want...I want her to feel like she's at home."

"I think it would be nice if you had a space for her." Rory agreed, "Eventually we will have to figure out something...more permanent in terms of...visitation and whatnot."

"I don't think we're quite there yet, Ace." Logan tried to assure her. "But I wanted to talk to you about one more thing."

"Something else?" Rory nodded.

"Something else." Logan laughed, "The holidays are coming, and I was wondering what your plans were?"

"Well we normally celebrate them." Rory smiled, she was glad that Logan was thinking about how to incorporate Charlotte into his own plans, "We rotate each year, we are in Stars Hollow this year, last year we were in Nantucket."

"So you and Charlotte might be free to spend some time with me? And my family?"

"We're all family." Rory assured him, "You send me your schedule and we'll figure it all out, maybe we can do something for Christmas Eve?"

Logan nodded his head in acknowledgment, "I guess I will send you some ideas for the room for Charlotte, and that is all I needed to discuss with you today. Like I said in my e-mail, I'm going to be gone for two weeks on business, and then I will be home for Thanksgiving, but I'm hoping she can FaceTime me while I'm gone?"

"Where are you going again?" Rory felt bad admitting she didn't remember.

"I'm going to be in Vancouver, so I'll be a couple hours behind you."

"We will FaceTime for sure then, why don't you call us when you land tomorrow after work?"

"Thanks Ror." Logan nodded as he grabbed his jacket and put it on, "I've got a chopper to catch."

xxx

"Well Rory, I have to tell you and your Mother something," Emily sat anxiously in Lorelai's living room, Luke was at the diner while the women were set to pick up Emily from the airport and bring her back to Stars Hollow to celebrate Thanksgiving.

"Is everything alright Grandma?" Rory was immediately concerned, she quickly scanned the room to see that Charlotte was immersed in her colouring.

"Everything is fine," Emily assured them both as Lorelai sat down, her brow creasing with concern, "but I need something from you, from you both really."

"Anything." Rory nodded only to receive a warning glance from Lorelai.

"Almost anything." Lorelai countered, "At least from me. I will not hide any dead bodies for you Mom, sorry, my days of looking good in stripes are long behind me."

"Oh Lorelai, don't be so ridiculous," Emily rolled her eyes, "I am moving back to Hartford." she told them, "I have enjoyed my time in Nantucket, and I will keep my house there, but I want a smaller place in Hartford so I can be closer to my daughter. And Rory, I want you to move home." she stated simply, "You and Logan have worked out some sort of arrangement that works for you, and for Charlotte, your Mother is here, I want us all together again. Your Father, your Grandfather would want us all together again."

"But Grandma, I have my house in Philly, my job, Charlotte's school." Rory felt panicked, "Jess is there."

"Jess is not her Father, dear. You know that, and you can find a teaching job here, you could teach at Chilton. Surely the salary for a private school is better than the public school you're at." she countered, "And you wouldn't have to worry about housing."

"Grandma, I am not living in a condo with you."

"I didn't sell the house." Emily admitted, "I would like for you to have it, for you to live there. That house is made for a family, to build memories and to have stories, and it was made for _our_ family."

Rory was stunned, she could see by the look on Lorelai's face, Lorelai was not surprised at all. "That is...wow...I think you should think about this Grandma, I mean that house is worth a lot of money, and I can't just take it from you."

"Money is money, Rory." Emily brushed her off, "You can't take it with you, and I have more than enough, as does your Mother, or so she tells me, and so that leaves you. Come home, we can all be together."

"Can I think about it?"

"Of course you can, Dear." Emily nodded, "I just want to be able to see my Daughter, Granddaughter and Great Granddaughter whenever I please."

Rory smiled as she glanced at her watch, "Grandma I'm sorry to run out on you like this, but I have to go, I told Logan that he and Charlotte could have dinner tonight, and I am going to run a few errands."

"Logan is in town?" Emily smiled, she was glad that Logan was such an active part of Charlotte's life, and she was even more glad that Rory seemed to be receptive to it.

"He is, he is actually going to be staying in Hartford and running the company from here." Rory told her, "Try not to get too joyful about this Grandma, we are friends, for the sake of our kid."

xxx

"Mommy?" Charlotte looked at her Mother as they got out of the rental car and walked up to Logan's front door.

"Yes sweetie?"

"Do you think I call 'Ogan Dad?" Charlotte asked as she stopped walking for a moment, "You told me he _is_ my Dad."

Rory nodded, she had considered broaching the topic with Charlotte, and even with Logan, but ultimately she had decided that it should be something that Rory didn't involve herself in. "Logan is your Dad." she agreed, "Do you want to call him Dad?"

"All da other kids have a Dad."

"And you have a Dah, you've always had Jess, and you always will..." Rory was careful, she didn't want to force Charlotte to do anything one way or another.

"But I have a Dad too?"

"You have a Dad too." Rory agreed.

"Maybe I will give it to 'Ogan for Christmas that he be my Dad."

"I think that would be very nice of you." Rory smiled, "Now what do you say we go ring the doorbell, it's getting cold out here." she laughed as Charlotte ran up to the door and Rory followed her and rang the bell.

"I certainly hope this is my two favourite girls." Logan grinned as he answered the door, he was dressed casually in jeans and a button up top and his hair was messy, a bit longer than normal, Rory assumed because he had been working from home for the week and taking meetings remotely he hadn't gotten his hair cut.

"You look good." Rory smiled as Charlotte ran into the house and began to pull off her boots.

"This house is _so_ big!" Charlotte told them, interrupting before Logan could strike up any conversation with Rory, "Is it bigger than your other house?" she looked around the expansive two storey foyer.

"It is." Logan laughed, "You certainly are perceptive. Do you want me to show you around?"

"I should go, leave you guys to it." Rory told them, "I've got some...stuff to do."

"Everything alright?" Logan asked her as he took Charlotte's jacket, Rory nodded and smiled sweetly in response, she knew that he didn't buy it, and he chose not to bring it up, it wasn't his place to question her feelings. "We are going to order pizza in an hour or so, if you are done your stuff, we would love for you to join us."

"I will keep in touch." Rory nodded before leaning down to kiss her daughter, "I love you kiddo, I will see you soon."

"Come back for dinner, Mommy." Charlotte smiled sweetly.

"We'll see." Rory assured her and then walked out the door.

"Did you see your Grandma and Great-Grandma?" Logan asked as he followed Charlotte as she went from room to room and looked around.

"Yep." she nodded, "We picked up Great-Grandma Emily from the plane-stop and then we go'd back to Gramma's house, and then Gramma Emily told Mommy we should move back to her old house." she told him simply.

"Wow." Logan was surprised, he supposed that made sense of Rory's mood, it was quite the bomb that Emily had dropped. "I have a surprise for you, do you want to go upstairs?"

"Is it a pony?" Charlotte's eyes lit up as she walked up the staircase, Logan hovering a step behind her.

"No, I did not get you a pony, but I'm sure if you mention it to Nana and Pops, they would find one for you." Logan joked.

"Really!?" Charlotte grinned as she followed Logan down a long hallway.

"Not really." Logan laughed, "Go in." he nodded towards the room.

"What this?" Charlotte asked as she walked into the room, it had a queen sized bed with a sheer canopy that came down from a gold crown mounted to the wall, there was pink bedding and pillows, a huge dollhouse in the corner and an off white, tufted settee by a window, there were book shelves with all sorts of books that Logan had been told she would love, and a dress up station in the corner.

"This is for you." Logan told her, watching as she traced her finger long the chair rail of the wainscoting that adorned the walls, "Your Mom and I talked about it and we thought that maybe it would be nice if you had a room at my house too."

"Mommy knows?"

"Mommy knows." Logan assured her, "Just for if you ever want to stay over."

"I have a present for you too." Charlotte told him simply as she walked towards him, extending her arms upwards so he could lift her, "Up." she added as he hoisted her up.

"You don't need to get me a present." Logan laughed as he kissed her forehead, "Do you like it?"

"I think maybe you could be my Daddy." Charlotte told him sweetly, "If you wanted, maybe."

"Your Daddy?" Logan felt his breath catch, he tried not to let his voice show too much emotion as he digested what she was saying, "Did you talk to your Mom about this?"

Charlotte nodded her head, "Mommy say that I have a Dah, but I have a _Dad_ too, and you is my Dad. If you want."

"I would love it if you called me Dad, you can call me whatever you want Charlotte, I will always love you and I will always be here, I promise." Logan assured her, hugging her tight.

"I hungry."

"Alright," Logan set her down gently, "why don't we go downstairs, and order the pizza and then call your Mom to see if she wants to come back for pizza."

xxx

Rory took a deep breath as she walked into the small bar in downtown Hartford, she scanned it quickly and spotted his dark hair and leather jacket, she walked towards him, "Hi."

"Hey yourself." Jess stood up and embraced her, "You look exhausted. I ordered you a gin and tonic."

"Thank you." Rory smiled as she kissed his cheek and sat down, glad that he always knew her favourite drink or what she needed on a moments notice.

"Everything alright? I thought we were going to see each other at the dinner in Stars Hollow?"

"We are." Rory nodded, "I...I just wanted to talk, privately. Charlotte is having dinner with Logan, so I figured this might be my only kid-free time for the weekend."

"Well we do both live in Philly, so we could always talk there." Jess laughed as the waiter brought them both their drinks and Rory took a sip.

"What are we?" Rory blurted out. It had been an awkward few month between them to say the least. Initially Jess had been upset over the situation with Logan, and Rory's willingness to let him into Charlotte's life. As the weeks went on and Jess saw that Logan was making an effort to keep him in the loop, Jess warmed to the situation and he and Rory had fallen back into their familiar and comfortable pattern."

"What do you mean, Ror?"

"Are we ever going to be anything, or are we just going to be...whatever the hell this is forever?"

"Rory you don't love me." Jess told her honestly, now it was his turn to take a drink, "I loved you, for a long time, but this thing between us...it's about comfort, it's not about romance. I love you as a best friend, but I know that I am not where you are meant to be."

"I'm moving home." Rory told him, nodding to acknowledge what he said. He was right, she knew he was right, they loved each other, but they were best friends, they weren't in love. "Don't think I'm taking her from you. You are so important to her...but...my Grandma is coming back, and she offered me their house, and I can't help but want to be close to my Mom and Luke, my Grandma, and...Logan he is moving home too."

"You're going to give the family thing a go."

"I just want him to have a chance with her, you know? You both love her so much, and I am eternally grateful for that, but she is a part of him."

"I get it." Jess nodded, "He's not your Dad, and I'm not Luke. This is different, this is our story, not your Moms."

Rory nodded, she knew what he meant, "Will you visit?"

"Will you?" Jess countered.

Rory nodded her head, "I promise. You can see her whenever you want." she felt a weird finality to their discussion, she knew that Jess would still see Charlotte, but the safety net that he had always been for her was no longer there.

"I know Ror." Jess nodded, "He loves you, you know that, right?"

"He and I are just parents to Charlotte, that is it." Rory told him, "So you're still coming to dinner?"

"Of course I am." Jess promised her, "Rory, nothing is changing, except that we aren't going to have sex with each other anymore. We can't keep holding each other back from whatever else might come our way."

"You make it sound so...simple."

"It is simple, we just need to accept it." Jess shrugged, it hurt, it broke his heart to walk away from her, from them, but he had always known that they were never his. Once Logan had come into their lives all those months ago, he knew his days were numbered, but he was thankful that he had them for as long as he did. "I should go." he tossed a few bills on the table and stood up, "I told my Mom I would pick Doula up from TJ's house."

Rory nodded and stood up, "See you?"

"See you."


End file.
